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Cited by 248Electoral Systems and Political ParticipationCultural Differences and ValuesAmerican Political and Social Dynamics

Is There a Culture War? Conflicting Value Structures in American Public Opinion

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JACOBY, WILLIAM G.·2014·American Political Science Review
DOI 10.1017/s0003055414000380
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Abstract

This article examines the “culture war” hypothesis by focusing on American citizens’ choices among a set of core values. A geometric model is developed to represent differences in the ways that individuals rank-order seven important values: freedom, equality, economic security, social order, morality, individualism, and patriotism. The model is fitted to data on value choices from the 2006 Cooperative Congressional Election Study. The empirical results show that there is an enormous amount of heterogeneity among individual value choices; the model estimates contradict any notion that there is a consensus on fundamental principles within the mass public. Further, the differences break down along political lines, providing strong evidence that there is a culture war generating fundamental divisions within twenty-first century American society.

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  • Individuals who identify as more conservative and endorse more rightist attitudes place a higher value on tradition, social order and stability, and the maintenance of existing hierarchical social arrangements than those who identify as more liberal and leftist.

    “those who identify as more conservative and endorse more rightist attitudes place a higher value on tradition, social order and stability, and the maintenance of existing hierarchical social arrangements.”

    From Cognitive–motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts (2022) · cites this paper as [43]

    In “Religious and Political Differences in Value Choices” (page unavailable), the paper finds that conservatives place greater importance on social order, morality, and patriotism than liberals do. It does not establish that they place greater value on tradition, stability, or maintaining existing social hierarchies. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Individuals who identify as more liberal and endorse more leftist attitudes place a higher value on equality and progressive forms of social change than those who identify as more conservative and rightist.

    “By contrast, those who identify as more liberal and endorse more leftist attitudes place a higher value on equality and progressive forms of social change43,47,82,107,171–173.”

    From Cognitive–motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts (2022) · cites this paper as [43]

    In “Religious and Political Differences in Value Choices” (page unavailable), the paper says Democrats and liberals place greater emphasis on equality than Republicans and conservatives. It does not report a comparison of how much these groups value progressive forms of social change. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The literature on mass political polarization in the USA has yielded mixed findings about whether ordinary citizens are deeply divided, whether polarization threatens democratic functioning, and the nature of the threat.

    “The body of literature on mass political polarization in the USA has yielded mixed findings: ordinary citizens are deeply divided9,31,35,41–49 or they are not10,29,36,50–54; polarization poses a huge threat to democratic functioning3,11,55, is not a problem at all13,56–58 or the nature of the threat is ambiguous7,59,60.”

    From Cognitive–motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts (2022) · cites this paper as [43]

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Authors
JACOBY, W. G.
Affiliations
Michigan State University (US)
Corresponding author
JACOBY, WILLIAM G.
Venue
American Political Science Review
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2014-10-08
Volume
108
Issue
4
Pages
754-771
ISSN
  • 0003-0554 (ISSN-L)
  • 1537-5943
DOI
10.1017/s0003055414000380
OpenAlex
W2114763295
Cited by
248
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 42 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 8
FWCI
80.36
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified)
Locations
  • American Political Science Review (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Cultural Differences and Values
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › American Political and Social Dynamics
Keywords
culture wars, value structure, public opinion, core values, value ranking, political polarization, freedom, equality, economic security, social order, morality, individualism, patriotism

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