Ideology and Party Responsibility Within the Law and Justice Policy Domain

Abstract

This study examined both Democratic and Republican state and national party platforms in the law and justice policy domain. By using content analysis to establish the ideological position of state and national parties, this article seeks to determine predictors of party preferences and party unity in this critical area of public policy. Results indicate that national party committees tend to take moderate positions on law and justice policy issues, whereas their state counterparts tend to be more conservative and liberal within Republican and Democratic committees, respectively. This article also found variation within predictors of party unity.