The Myth of Zero Partisanship: Attitudes toward American Political Parties, 1964-84

Stanga, John E.; Sheffield, James F.

doi:10.2307/2111226

Cited by 18 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…This use of the likes-dislikes measure has several problems. In addition to obscuring differences between categories and overstating neutrality (see DeSart 1995; Konda and Sigelman 1987;Stanga and Sheffield 1987), the measure lacks a stated neutral point. People are classified as neutral if they unwittingly balance the number of likes and dislikes or, perhaps more problematically, provide no answers at all.…”

Section: Individual-level Evidence Of Party Resurgencementioning

confidence: 99%

Resurgent Mass Partisanship: The Role of Elite Polarization

2001

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F or the most part, scholars who study American political parties in the electorate continue to characterize them as weak and in decline. Parties on the elite level, however, have experienced a resurgence over the last two decades. Such a divergence between elite behavior and mass opinion is curious, given that most models of public opinion place the behavior of elites at their core. In fact, I find that parties in the electorate have experienced a noteworthy resurgence over the last two decades. Greater partisan polarization in Congress has clarified the parties' ideological positions for ordinary Americans, which in turn has increased party importance and salience on the mass level. Although parties in the 1990s are not as central to Americans as they were in the 1950s, they are far more important today than in the 1970s and 1980s. The party decline thesis is in need of revision.

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Section: Individual-level Evidence Of Party Resurgencementioning

confidence: 99%

Resurgent Mass Partisanship: The Role of Elite Polarization

2001

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“…A fairly persistent feature of partisanship is its bipolar nature among the majority of the electorate (Green & Citrin, 1994;Stanga & Sheffield, 1987;cf. Weisberg, 1980).…”

Section: Social Identity Theory and Partisanshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many of the findings on American partisanship in recent decades can be convincingly reinterpreted through the lens of social identity. A fairly persistent feature of partisanship is its bipolar nature among the majority of the electorate (Green & Citrin, 1994;Stanga & Sheffield, 1987;cf. Weisberg, 1980).…”

Section: Social Identity Theory and Partisanshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Party Identification: A Social Identity Approach

Greene

1999

Political Psychology

413

229

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Social identity theory holds that individuals derive their self‐concept from knowledge of their membership in a group (or groups) and that they place value and emotional significance on that group membership, with resulting perceptual and attitudinal biases. Individuals favor the in‐group to which they belong which they define against a relevant out‐group. In this study, a partisan social identity scale was used to reinterpret perceptual features of partisanship through the lens of social identity theory. The social identity of political independents was also examined in an effort to explain the anomalous behavior and identity of partisan leaners. Social identity theory provided a viable alternative framework for understanding the common bipolarity of perceptions regarding the two major U.S. political parties. In addition, an independent social identification may, in part, explain the identity of partisan leaners.

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“…As Kelley (1983:10) argues, "the opinions of American voters are very heterogenous," and thus, "any list of questions about particular considerations (when voting), even a long list, is almost certain to omit important ones." respond to these kinds of questions not because they do not have views on the issue but because they are not articulate enough to put forth an answer (see, for instance, Craig, 1985;and Stanga and Sheffield, 1987). Thus, open-ended questions may, in part, be measuring people's education, not their attitudes, which raises doubts about whether such questions can accurately assess the public's attitudes.…”

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confidence: 99%