The Decline of Political Partisanship in the United States: Negativity or Neutrality?

1981 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 941-950 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin P. Wattenberg
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
The United States ◽  
Study Data ◽  
National Election ◽  
Election Study ◽  
Political Partisanship ◽  
National Election Study ◽  
Major Trend ◽  
Party Decline

This article examines attitudes towards the two major political parties in the United States from 1952 to 1980, using national election study data from open-ended likes/dislikes questions. The major trend which is found is a shift toward neutral evaluations of the parties. A reinterpretation of party decline in the electorate is offered, in which the much-discussed alienation from parties is largely rejected as an explanation. Rather, it is argued that the link between parties and candidates has been substantially weakened over the years and hence that political parties have become increasingly meaningless to the electorate.

The Influence of Political Discussion on Policy Preference: A comparison of the United States and Japan

2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
SEAN RICHEY ◽  
KEN'ICHI IKEDA
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Network ◽  
The United States ◽  
Network Size ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Policy Preference ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
Election Study ◽  
National Election Study ◽  
Social Network Influence

This research tests if political discussion influences policy preference. The literature greatly stresses the non-rational nature of political decision-making. Rational policy preferences require learning specific details in a competitive political environment. Yet, research shows that most people do not have the skills to understand policy. Social networking is one way to help people understand policy. Social network influence on policy preferences, however, is mostly ignored. We show that the likelihood of supporting a policy increases when one's social network supports a party that advocates that policy. We control for the political knowledge of the respondent, network size, partisanship, ideology, socioeconomic, and policy-specific determinants. Examining data from the 2000 American National Election Study and Japanese Election Study 3, we find strong results in the United States, but mixed results in Japan. Additional research we perform shows a stronger social network influence in Japan.

Immigrant Resentment and Voter Fraud Beliefs in the U.S. Electorate

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 402-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriano Udani ◽  
David C. Kimball
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Strong Predictor ◽  
The United States ◽  
Congressional Election ◽  
Election Study ◽  
Public Beliefs ◽  
National Election Study ◽  
American National Election Study ◽  
Immigration Politics ◽  
Voter Fraud

Public beliefs about the frequency of voter fraud are frequently cited to support restrictive voting laws in the United States. However, some sources of public beliefs about voter fraud have received little attention. We identify two conditions that combine to make anti-immigrant attitudes a strong predictor of voter fraud beliefs. First, the recent growth and dispersion of the immigrant population makes immigration a salient consideration for many Americans. Second, an immigrant threat narrative in political discourse linking immigration to crime and political dysfunction has been extended to the voting domain. Using new data from a survey module in the 2014 Cooperative Congressional Election Study and the 2012 American National Election Study, we show that immigrant resentment is strongly associated with voter fraud beliefs. Widespread hostility toward immigrants helps nourish public beliefs about voter fraud and support for voting restrictions in the United States. The conditions generating this relationship in public opinion likely exist in other nations roiled by immigration politics. The topic of fraudulent electoral practices will likely continue to provoke voters to call to mind groups that are politically constructed as “un-American.”

Gender Gaps, Partisan Gaps, and Cross-Pressures: An Examination of American Attitudes toward the Use of Force

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Michael A. Hansen ◽  
Jennifer L. Clemens ◽  
Kathleen Dolan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
The United States ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Military Force ◽  
Congressional Election ◽  
Election Study ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This article explores the gender gap in attitudes toward the use of military force in the United States. Given that the United States has been continuously engaged in war for the last 17 years, we revisit the topic and explore whether a gender gap in attitudes persists by utilizing Cooperative Congressional Election Study data for 2006–16. In addition, given the primacy of partisanship to issue attitudes, we go beyond examining the gender gap to explore the impact of partisanship on these attitudes. We find that women are less likely than men to support the use of force in most circumstances. We also find gender gaps in the Democratic and Republican parties and acknowledge the diversity among women and among men in these attitudes because of partisan identity. Finally, we identify points of cross-pressure on individuals whose gender and partisan identities pull them in different directions, namely, Republican women and Democratic men.

Decaying Versus Developing Party Systems: A Comparison of Party Images in the United States and West Germany

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Dieter Klingemann ◽  
Martin P. Wattenberg
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Party System ◽  
System Development ◽  
Party Identification ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
The United States ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Election Study ◽  
National Election Study ◽  
Citizens Attitudes

This article examines citizens' attitudes towards the two major parties in the United States since 1952 and in West Germany since 1969 employing open-ended data from each country's National Election Study time series. Despite similar declining trends in party identification in the two countries, it is found that the patterns of change in party images are markedly different. In the United States it is shown that voters have become increasingly neutral towards the two parties as the focus has turned more and more towards the candidates. In contrast, in West Germany voters have come to have a more balanced view of the parties, seeing both positive and negative features of both. Thus in both cases there has been a decline in polarized strong partisanship (‘my party right or wrong’), but for different reasons. In the United States this decline can be seen as a sign of the decay of an ageing and outdated party system; in West Germany it can be seen as the development of realistic and balanced views of a party system which is just reaching full maturity. The implications for analysing party system development in Eastern Europe are discussed.

Propaganda Activities of British Political Parties

1936 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-125
Author(s):  
Harold W. Stoke
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Election ◽  
British Politics ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sentiment

The recent national election in Great Britain offers another opportunity to study the methods and practices by which British political parties carry on their campaigns. One of the most interesting of these aspects of British politics is the character of the propaganda activities in which the parties engage—activities which present some contrasts to those with which Americans are familiar. In the United States, the regularity of elections accustoms the public to recurrent outbursts of noisy, high-pressure propaganda followed after elections by a silence almost unbroken by official party utterances. The parties of the United States are compelled to manufacture their campaigns out of whatever materials are at hand, seeking to whip up public sentiment without caring very much whether it rests upon sound convictions as to public policy or upon prejudice and passion. Party activities and strategy are determined almost exclusively by one cardinal principle—the effect upon the number of votes which the party can secure.

The Media's Persuasive Effects: The Priming of Leadership in the 1988 Canadian Election

1994 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Mendelsohn
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Party Identification ◽  
Media Exposure ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Study Data ◽  
National Election ◽  
Election Study ◽  
National Election Study ◽  
The Media

AbstractThis article examines the effect of the media during the 1988 Canadian election. Using National Election Study data, three questions are investigated: do those with different patterns of media exposure change their vote intentions at different times; do those with higher media exposure remain more stable in their vote intentions, and do the media prime leadership? The article argues that patterns of media exposure have an effect: those with higher exposure to the media lead the opinion of others by about one week, they are more stable in their vote intentions, and they are more likely to vote on the basis of their trust in the leaders than on issue positions (in this case, the Free Trade Agreement) or party identification. However, there were few differences between those who relied on television as opposed to print for their information.

scholarly journals The Effect of Partisan Representation at Different Levels of Government on Satisfaction with Democracy in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie VanDusky-Allen ◽  
Stephen M. Utych
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
State Government ◽  
The United States ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Satisfaction With Democracy ◽  
National Election Study ◽  
American National Election Study ◽  
Respective State ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Analyze Data

AbstractIn this paper, we analyze how variations in partisan representation across different levels of government influence Americans’ satisfaction with the democracy in the United States. We conduct two survey experiments and analyze data from the 2016 American National Election Study postelection survey. We find that Americans are the most satisfied with democracy when their most preferred party controls both the federal and their respective state governments. However, we also find that even if an individual’s least preferred party only controls one level of government, they are still more satisfied with democracy than if their most preferred party controls no levels of government. These findings suggest that competition in elections across both the national and state government, where winning and losing alternates between the two parties, may have positive outcomes for attitudes toward democracy.

The Role of Congress in the Development of a Responsible American Policy Toward Angola

1975 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 18-21
Author(s):  
Gerald J. Bender
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
The United States ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
Commission Report ◽  
American Policy

In addition to our discussions today of the current situation in Angola, I would like to direct my remarks to the question of what role, if any, the United States should play with regard to Angola, and concretely, how the Congress can assist in the formulation and execution of a responsible American policy toward Angola. We have all learned a number of important lessons from recent revelations about the conduct of American policy in Southeast Asia, about Government coverups such as Watergate, corporate bribery of foreign officials and political parties, and about the illegal and unacceptable activities of the CIA as described in the Rockefeller Commission report and elsewhere. Certainly we can apply some of these lessons to our present consideration of U.S. policy toward Angola; hopefully we will learn the vital facts and ask the necessary questions now, rather than, as has too often been the case, after the fact.

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