Lauren Silver POLS 540: Partisanship and Voting Behavior 10-01-09

Contrary to the belief of many scholars that partisanship has declined since the
1950s, Larry Bartels argues that partisanship among the American publicespecially
among those ho !ote in presidential and congressional electionshas intensified since
the 19"0s# Bartels outlines his case by pro!iding $ey pieces of e!idence, including% 1&
the gap in partisanship beteen !oters and non!oters has increased by about 10
percentage points from the 1950s to the 1990s' (& the proportion of party identifiers
among !oters as only slightly smaller )( percentage points& in the 1950s than in the
1990s' and *& scholars ho emphasi+e the rise in the proportion of the public identifying
themsel!es as independents in the 19,0s and early 19"0s as e!idence of partisan decline
are focused on the loest point of partisan attachment among the American public since
the 1950s#
Bartels demonstrates the impact of increasing partisanship on American !oters
there has been a -monotonic increase in partisan !oting in e!ery presidential election
since 19"(,. a trend seen in both southern and non/southern hites, thereby signaling a
-national rather than a regional phenomenon#. Bartels demonstrates a similar trend ith
respect to congressional elections as ell#
Li$e Bartels, Abramoit+ and 0aunders ta$e issue ith another claim supported
by other scholars )albeit feer&the notion that Americans identify ith political parties
based more on their social identities than on party policy preferences and performance in
office# Abramoit+ and 0aunders point out that 120 data indicate there has been an
increase in the correlation beteen Americans ideological self/identification and their
policy preferences, thus, -there is an ideological structure to Americans opinions on
Lauren Silver POLS 540: Partisanship and Voting Behavior 10-01-09
policy issues#. 3ore specifically, since the early 19"0s, those identifying themsel!es as
conser!ati!e ha!e been more li$ely to identify as 4epublicans hile those categori+ing
themsel!es as liberal ha!e been less li$ely to identify as 4epublicansthis is true among
both northern and southern hites# 5n further support of the -ideological realignment
hypothesis,. Abramoti+ and 0aunders sho that the 120 9(/9, panel study pro!ides
e!idence that conser!ati!es became more 4epublican hile liberals became more
6emocratic o!er the four/year period, hile the re!erse is not true, i#e#, 4epublicans did
not become more conser!ati!e and 6emocrats did not become more liberal# 7his
-ideological realignment. has resulted in higher le!els of partisan !oting in recent
presidential and congressional elections#
8indings from both the Bartels and the Abramoit+ and 0aunders studies pro!ide
additional e!idence that the American electorate has become increasingly polari+ed along
party lines# 3ore and more Americans are self/identifying as either 4epublican or
6emocratic than in the past and, moreo!er, more Americans are labeling themsel!es as
-strong. identifiers than as -ea$. identifiers and feer Americans are self/identifying
as -pure. independents# 7his heightened self/aareness of partisanship stems more from
indi!iduals ideological beliefsconser!atism !s# liberalismand resulting policy
preferences than from social group identification# 7a$en together, the result is an
increasingly polari+ed American electorate that most li$ely ill remain so since it is
comprised of !oters ho identify more strongly ith a party based on more stable,
constrained ideological beliefs#