Race, belief system complexity, and partisan-ideological sorting

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite a great deal of scholarly attention to the concept of partisan-ideological sorting, few analyses have investigated differences in sorting patterns among subgroups of Americans, with most opting to examine broader trends among the entirety of the mass public instead. However, recent work shows that Black Americans have not sorted to the same degree as Whites. We (1) extend previous studies to include an examination of Latinos and (2) offer an explanation for lower levels of sorting among non-Whites: belief system complexity. We argue that as one's belief system – operationalized by issue attitudes or core values, for example – becomes more multidimensional, the probability of neatly sorting along a unidimensional continuum decreases. Using data from the 1986–2016 ANES American National Election Studies, we first show that Black and Latino Americans have more complex political belief systems, operationalized in several different ways, compared to Whites. Then, we examine the relationship between various measures of belief system complexity and sorting, observing strong relationships that help account for the discrepancy in sorting between White and non-White Americans.