Partisan mobilization, cognitive mobilization and the changing American electorate

Abstract

The concept of party identification is central to our understanding of American electoral behavior. This research builds upon the functional logic of party identification and asks what occurs if citizens become better able to manage the complexities of politics without relying on habitual party cues. Using the data from the American National Election Studies, we track the distribution of party mobilization and cognitive mobilization within the American electorate. Then, we demonstrate the importance of these alternative mobilization patterns by documenting strong differences in the content of political thinking, voting choice, and electoral change. The results suggest a secular transformation in the characteristics of the American public since the classic images of The American Voter, leading to a more differentiated and dealigned electorate.