A New Partisan Voter
Abstract
The American electorate today is different from that described in The American Voter. Both the 1950s era of ideologically innocent party voting and the subsequent period of partisan dealignment are over. Some political scientists began to describe the New American Voter as a new partisan evolution occurred. What has not been fully appreciated in the twentieth/twenty-first century history of voting studies is how partisanship returned in a form more ideological and more issue based along liberal-conservative lines than it has been in more than 30 years. This is visible in the strength of partisan voting, in the relationship between partisanship and ideology, and in the strength of the relationship of partisanship and self-reported liberal-conservative ideology to the public's economic, social, racial, and religious attitudes and opinions. Not only has the public responded in a striking way to changes in politics and its context, but the current transformation has also appeared to be strikingly enduring and difficult to shake, based on survey evidence for this new partisan voter.
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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 [42]
Elite polarization predated the rise of mass polarization in the USA by several years, suggesting that voters began to 'catch up' to party leaders over time.
“Elite polarization predated the rise of mass polarization in the USA by several years, suggesting that voters began to ‘catch up’ to party leaders over time10,42,48.”
From Cognitive–motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts (2022) · cites this paper as [42]
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- Authors
- Bafumi, J., & Shapiro, R. Y.
- Affiliations
- Dartmouth College (US)
- Columbia University (US)
- Venue
- The Journal of Politics
- Publisher
- University of Chicago Press
- Published
- 2009-01
- Volume
- 71
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-24
- ISSN
- 0022-3816 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-2508
- OpenAlex
- W2138612631
- Cited by
- 449
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 39 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 47 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 26 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 36
- FWCI
- 166.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Politics (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › American Political and Social Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Theory and Democracy
- Keywords
- party voting, partisanship, ideological voting, liberal-conservative ideology, issue-based voting, partisan dealignment, voting behavior, public opinion, racial attitudes, religious attitudes, economic attitudes, social attitudes
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