Party Identification Research Articles

Climate emotions, thoughts, and plans among US adolescents and young adults: a cross-sectional descriptive survey and analysis by political party identification and self-reported exposure to severe weather events

Climate change has adverse effects on youth mental health and wellbeing, but limited large-scale data exist globally or in the USA. Understanding the patterns and consequences of climate-related distress among US youth can inform necessary responses at the individual, community, and policy level. A cross-sectional descriptive online survey was done of US youth aged 16-25 years from all 50 states and Washington, DC, between July 20 and Nov 7, 2023, via the Cint digital survey marketplace. The survey assessed: climate-related emotions and thoughts, including indicators of mental health; relational aspects of climate-related emotions; beliefs about who or what has responsibility for causing and responding to climate change; desired and planned actions in response to climate change; and emotions and thoughts about the US Government response to climate change. Respondents were asked whether they had been affected by various severe weather events linked to climate change and for their political party identification. Sample percentages were weighted according to 2022 US census age, sex, and race estimates. To test the effects of political party identification and self-reported exposure to severe weather events on climate-related thoughts and beliefs we used linear and logistic regression models, which included terms for political party identification, the number of self-reported severe weather event types in respondents' area of residence in the past year, and demographic control variables. We evaluated survey responses from 15 793 individuals (weighted proportions: 80·5% aged 18-25 years and 19·5% aged 16-17 years; 48·8% female and 51·2% male). Overall, 85·0% of respondents endorsed being at least moderately worried, and 57·9% very or extremely worried, about climate change and its impacts on people and the planet. 42·8% indicated an impact of climate change on self-reported mental health, and 38·3% indicated that their feelings about climate change negatively affect their daily life. Respondents reported negative thoughts about the future due to climate change and actions planned in response, including being likely to vote for political candidates who support aggressive climate policy (72·8%). In regression models, self-reported exposure to more types of severe weather events was significantly associated with stronger endorsement of climate-related distress and desire and plans for action. Political party identification as Democrat or as Independent or Other (vs Republican) was also significantly associated with stronger endorsement of distress and desire and plans for action, although a majority of self-identified Republicans reported at least moderate distress. For all survey outcomes assessed in the models, the effect of experiencing more types of severe weather events did not significantly differ by political party identification. Climate change is causing widespread distress among US youth and affecting their beliefs and plans for the future. These effects may intensify, across the political spectrum, as exposure to climate-related severe weather events increases. Avaaz Foundation.

The Evolution of Public Opinion Over Gay Rights in Switzerland

At the same time as support for LGB rights and tolerance of homosexuality has increased among western democracies, there has also been a strong backlash. How can these two trends be reconciled? This article answers that question by considering the distribution of public opinion over LGB rights in Switzerland. Using a novel method, this article shows how Swiss citizens have become more polarized over LGB rights, not between those who favor and those who oppose but between those who strongly favor and the ambivalent. Some people on the right are also increasingly divided amongst themselves. The key driver is the growing impact party identity has on people’s social attitudes like acceptance of pro-LGB policies. Results from Switzerland suggest we will find increased polarization in other democracies where the cultural political spectrum has become salient.

Procedural Justice, Representation, and Institutional Trust in Mexico

Both theoretical and empirical studies suggest that confidence in institutions is crucial for the functioning of democratic political systems and is an important element of the citizen–state relationship. Trust in institutions has been mainly explained in terms of institutional performance or as an extension of interpersonal trust. Using data from the 2020 National Survey of Civic Culture (Encuesta Nacional de Cultura Cívica), we examined the determinants of Mexicans’ trust in two institutions elected via popular vote: Congress and the Presidency. We focus on procedural justice and representation to account for trust in both institutions. We found positive relationships (of different magnitudes) between citizens’ trust in both Congress and the Presidency and the indicators of perceived representation, procedural justice, institutional performance, and interpersonal trust. In addition, we found different and significant effects of party identification on trust levels in both institutions.

Designing Political Brand Identity Through Architecture: A Case of Malatya City Hall

Corporate level awareness and understanding of political systems are widely spreading in politics through the application of marketing concepts by parties. This study explores how party ideology, hierarchical structures, and symbolism are embedded into the design of government buildings to enhance corporate communication with stakeholders. A design strategy that links architecture with politics views specific architectural features as semiotic resources for party identity and envisions them as design patterns in the future. This paper presents the Malatya City Hall as an example, which was designed using a similar architectural style to that of the Nationalist Movement Party Headquarters in Türkiye. Employing critical discourse analysis (CDA), we unveil the political structure underlying the Headquarters, which is subsequently transposed into the design of City Hall. The Ottoman-Seljuk architectural style, in its modern interpretation, serves as a reflection of political ideology in these buildings. The corporate organizational structure is emphasized through the president’s prominent position and the restricted accessibility to his spaces, evident in the layout design. Additionally, symbolism is incorporated by aligning the building’s architectural plan with the party’s logo, creating a direct visual representation of political brand identity.

Sexist Beliefs and Participation in the 2016 Presidential Election: Evidence from the General Social Survey

ABSTRACT Many studies of the 2016 U.S. presidential election have demonstrated that American voters with strong sexist beliefs tended to vote against the female candidate, Hillary Clinton. However, most of these studies did not pay much attention to whether eligible voters chose to vote. This study analyzed the 2018 and 2020 General Social Surveys to examine how American voters’ gender stereotypes in the family and sexist attitudes toward women in politics were associated with their participation in the 2016 presidential election—the latest election when the surveys were conducted—considering their party identification. The study discovered that strong Democrats who harbored a sexist attitude toward women in politics were less likely to participate in the 2016 presidential election than were Republicans and Independents with the same attitude. Furthermore, weak Democrats and Independents who endorsed traditional gender stereotypes in the family were less likely to participate in the election than were Republicans with the same ideals. The findings indicate that benevolent sexism may have discouraged some Democrat and Independent voters from going to the polls.

From Gender Gap to Gender Gaps: Bringing Nonbinary People into Political Behavior Research

The “gender gap” in voting is one of the most well-documented findings in survey research across democracies. However, gender gap research has traditionally assumed that everyone is either a man or a woman, which does not account for the growing number of people who identify as nonbinary. How do nonbinary people differ from men and women in their party identification and voting behavior? We answer this question using data from the 2021 Canadian Election Study online panel, which has a large enough subsample of nonbinary respondents to identify gaps in party identification and voting behavior. Nonbinary people are much less likely to identify with and vote for the Liberal Party or Conservative Party and much more likely to identify with and vote for the social democratic New Democratic Party (NDP) than both men and women. Many of these gaps persist even when restricting the analysis to LGBTQ respondents, adjusting for demographic variables that predict nonbinary identity, and adjusting for issue attitudes. Nonbinary people’s distinctiveness from men and women suggests that researchers need to add nonbinary response options to gender questions and, wherever possible, incorporate nonbinary people into analyses of gender and politics.

How expected party affiliation influences attitudes toward immigrants? Experimental evidence from the United States

AbstractWhat explains natives' attitudes towards immigrants in host countries? This paper argues that not only economic and cultural but also political threat perceptions influence attitude formation. Natives consider the political balance of power and calculate the potential political benefits of admitting immigrants. This is because expected in‐party members will affect the balance of power in their favour. Leveraging a conjoint experiment in the United States, this study explores whether an immigrant's expected party affiliation shapes native attitudes. The findings indicate that immigrants with defined party affiliations are favoured compared to non‐affiliated ones. Moreover, respondents favoured immigrants perceived as political allies and penalized those seen as rivals. Expected party affiliation is even a strong predictor of attitudes for natives with existing anti‐immigrant attitudes as they curbed their negativities and favoured certain party identities. Overall, results suggest the pivotal role of political considerations as well as the importance of studying unexplored factors in attitude formation on immigration.

Party identification as a mediating variable in the perception of governmental legitimacy in Israel during the coronavirus epidemic

AbstractObjectiveThe policy implemented in Israel with the purpose of eradicating the COVID‐19 pandemic restricted Israeli citizens’ individual freedom. During this period, Israel was suffering from government instability that led to recurring election campaigns within a short period. In addition, the prime minister was under legal investigation for suspicions of government corruption. This study examines the legitimization of government by the Israeli public during the COVID‐19 pandemic.MethodsThe research findings are based on a representative attitude survey conducted by a survey company among Israeli citizens (men and women older than 18), including 604 respondents from the Jewish population and others and another 135 respondents from the Arab sector, that is, a total of 739 respondents, where the sampling error was 4.4 percent.ResultsThe findings indicate that right‐wing voters tended to support governmental legitimization at a higher rate compared to voters from opposing blocs. Correspondingly, they tended to oppose claims attacking governmental legitimization at a lower rate in comparison to coalition party voters.ConclusionThe conclusion indicates that the party identification of the respondents is a mediating variable in their perception of governmental legitimacy vis‐à‐vis each of the three variables examined, thereby strengthening the perceptual screening.

Socializing Policy Feedback: The Long-Term Effects of Adolescent Program Participation on Adult Party Identification

Despite the expectation that welfare participation—because of its direct monetary payments—fosters strong attachments to the Democratic Party, the evidence to date suggests that welfare is unrelated to party identification. The majority of this research, however, focuses on adults, when partisan development is over. We argue that adolescent welfare participation may serve as a class-based signal that reinforces identification with the Democratic Party. Our inferences are generally consistent with this line of reasoning, but we also find important differences across race and ethnicity. Depending on the model, the likelihood of identifying with the Democratic Party in adulthood for white respondents is anywhere from 9 to 16% points higher for respondents who grew up in families that received welfare compared to those who did not have adolescent welfare participation. Other results, however, suggest a negative association between adolescent welfare use and identification with the Democratic Party for non-Hispanic black respondents. We conclude that despite the fact that adult welfare experiences lead to political disengagement, adolescent program participation can be sites of partisan learning.

Political Parties and Public Policies. A Review of the Spanish Evidence

Abstract To what extent does the incumbent party’s identity shape public policies? We investigate this question by examining national and regional policies in Spain. First, we analyze the evolution of voter preferences, and ofthe platforms of the two mainstream parties (Partido Socialista Obrero Español [PSOE] and Partido Popular [PP]), and the newer challenger parties that emerged post-financial crisis (Ciudadanos, Podemos, and Vox). We focus on three key national-level issue dimensions: economic, social, and centralization. As expected, the right-wing PP adopts a more conservative stance on all dimensions compared to the left-wing PSOE. However, the policy gap between these two parties remains relatively stable until the mid-2000s, with party platforms tracking the evolution of citizen preferences. After this period, platforms start to diverge, especially in the case of new parties, which display radical stances on these dimensions. We also provide descriptive evidence suggesting that these platform differences have translated into enacted policies. Second, to offer causal evidence on the effect of party identity on policy decisions, we examine partisan disparities in regional fiscal policies. Our findings reveal significant differences in tax policy following the granting of tax autonomy to the regions, somewhat moderated by tax competition and fiscal limits.

Shaping EU policy in regional parliaments: a configurational analysis of the Posted Workers Directive in Germany

ABSTRACT Since the Lisbon Treaty, research on parliaments in EU affairs turned to the regional level, but few studies ask how subnational legislators engage with the substance of EU policies. We examine this topic based on statements by the parliamentary groups in all German Landtage concerning the reform of the Posted Workers Directive, which became particularly salient when the European Court of Justice liberalized wage clauses in state procurement law. Under which conditions did the parliamentary groups support the reform? Our configurational analysis reveals that a left party identity is the only necessary attribute for support, and that it becomes sufficient in conjunction with the group being in opposition or with state policy being affected by European jurisprudence. We find little evidence that the local economic context mattered. The results partly confirm research on the Europeanization of state procurement law but highlight the importance of policy shaping from below.

Beyond disdain: Measurement and consequences of negative partisanship as a social identity

Negative partisanship, voters’ rejection of a party, increasingly garners scholarly attention. Yet we lack robust empirical evidence on the nature of the concept and how it shapes attitudes towards citizens of the “other side” of politics. In this paper I argue negative partisanship should be conceptualised as a type of social identity, beyond a mere “dislike” of a party. Leveraging a three-wave online panel administered during the 2021 German federal elections, I test the measurement properties of a multi-item scale measuring negative party identification. Further, I examine the effects of negative identities on attitudes towards other citizens by combining the online panel with a nine-country survey. I find that negative identification is at least as stable as (positive) partisanship and it predicts hostile attitudes towards out-voters. These findings suggest that, when dislike of a party becomes part of one’s sense of self, the consequences for social cohesion are particularly egregious.

Analyzing Party Identification Dynamics Using SmartPLS in the Peshawar Valley, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan

The political landscape in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan, has seen a significant transformation since the 2013 elections, marked by the unprecedented dominance of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) across three consecutive elections. This study explores the dynamics of party identification with specific relevance to the Peshawar Valley of KP, focusing on the role of family socialization, peer group interactions, political party performance, leadership, and political campaigns. Data from 1196 respondents in the Peshawar Valley were analyzed using multiple regression with SmartPLS. The findings indicate that traditional familial and peer influences on party identification are weakening, while instrumental factors like political leadership and campaigns have a substantial impact. PTI's success is attributed to its effective use of social media and charismatic leadership, emphasizing the shift towards leader-centric and campaign-driven party support. This shift reflects a weakening of traditional partisan alignments and a growing reliance on dynamic political factors in shaping voter behavior.

A Consistent Picture? Issue‐Based Campaigning on Facebook During the 2021 German Federal Election Campaign

In times of declining party identification, political parties need to persuade and mobilize their voters from election to election. Setting topics in such a way that voters are convinced to cast their vote has become an essential prerequisite for success in modern election campaigns. Social media are suitable for this, as parties can set their own topics or highlight the topics most important to the voters and communicate them to a large audience in organic posts or target specific voter groups with ads. While tendencies of issue ownership in posts on Facebook are repeatedly shown empirically, there is a lack of studies investigating which strategies parties follow in their investment decisions on Facebook ads. Based on theoretical expectations derived from the literature about digital political marketing and issue prioritization in election campaigns, this article investigates whether parties communicated consistently on Facebook with regard to the issues they set in organic posts, sponsored posts, and ads during the 2021 German federal election campaign. The results of a manual quantitative content analysis (n = 1,029 posts, n = 1,197 sponsored posts, n = 2,643 ads) show that parties focused on issue ownership in their posts. Still, their investments in sponsored posts and ads followed different strategies. Here, most parties highlighted social policy, contradicting issue ownership for some parties. The article provides novel insights into digital campaigning and discusses the extent to which parties can engage audiences beyond their organic reach within party-affiliated audiences.

Racial resentment, sexism, and evaluations of Kamala Harris in the 2020 U.S. presidential election

AbstractObjectiveThis article examines the effect of racial attitudes and sexism on evaluations of Kamala Harris. It also compares the effect of these variables on evaluations of other Democratic politicians: Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton.MethodsData are taken from the 2020 American National Election Studies, using feeling thermometers for Harris, Biden, and Obama, and from the 2016 American National Election Studies for Clinton. Our primary independent variables are racial resentment and three measures of sexism: modern, hostile, and traditional sexism.ResultsRacial resentment, modern sexism, and traditional sexism exerted an effect on evaluations of Kamala Harris above and beyond other explanatory variables, including party identification and ideology. However, these effects did not differ considerably from those found for Biden, Obama, and Clinton.ConclusionsRacial resentment and sexism appear to be related to evaluations of any Democratic presidential or vice presidential nominee, reflecting how they have become salient in defining party identities. We speculate, however, that their effects might be even more visible for black women at the top of a presidential ticket, and provide major headwinds into which Kamala Harris may have to run when contemplating any future presidential candidacy of her own.

Party identity and social-distancing behaviours in Brazil

ABSTRACT Does political affiliation of local politicians determine citizens’ compliance to social distancing behaviours? I provide causal estimates of the effect of political identity of municipal mayors on regional differences in engaging in COVID preventive behaviours in the context of Brazil. I employ a sharp regression discontinuity design based on close mayoral elections in 2016 to examine the effects of having a mayor from one of three political parties that President Jair Bolsonaro is closely associated with, by combining Facebook mobility data that tracks regional movement relative to February 2020 levels with electoral data from the 2016 mayoral municipal elections. The methodology compares municipalities that are similar along a wide array of predetermined and observable correlates of the spread of coronavirus, and where the incumbent mayor was selected as-if randomly. I find that residents of Bolsonaro-affiliated municipalities exhibit 60% smaller relative declines in regional movement and are 13% more likely to cross regional boundaries over the months of March, April, and May in 2020. The findings hold for each of the three political parties, for each of the three months since the onset of the pandemic, and after controlling for anti-lockdown measures of 15 March 2020 in Brazil.

Tribal Politics or Discerning Voters? Party and Policy in Local Elections

How do voters react to local candidates who share their policy views but not their party identification, and vice versa? This paper presents findings from a survey experiment that cross-pressured respondents to choose between a co-partisan candidate who does not share their policy views (on housing and homelessness) and an opposing party candidate with some ideological affinity. The majority of respondents chose party over policy, indicating they would vote for co-partisans even if the candidate from the opposing party is closer to their policy positions. However, significant minorities defected and in some circumstances most did. Weak partisans, those with stronger policy views, and those who viewed the issues as highly salient were more likely to defect from their party when cross-pressured. Our findings support revising the expectation that partisanship always takes precedence over policy views and reinforces the view that partisanship may operate differently at the local level.

The role of the opposition in autocratisation: the case of Turkey

This paper explores the role of opposition parties within the context of global democratic erosion, with a focus on Turkey. It investigates the multifaceted role of opposition actors in the process of autocratisation, challenging conventional portrayals of them as mere victims or resilient forces. Drawing on a comprehensive analysis of the main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), spanning the critical period of 2002–2022 under the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), this research uncovers how opposition strategies have evolved in response to changing political dynamics. The paper introduces two new concepts, rigid opposition and flexible opposition, to elucidate the adaptive nature of opposition strategies in the face of autocratisation. It underscores the transition of the CHP from a rigid stance, characterised by identity-based polarisation, to a more flexible approach, involving strategic alliances and inclusive discourse. This transformation is not a binary success–failure paradigm but rather a complex adaptation with inherent risks. While flexibility is crucial to limit autocratisation, its potential pitfalls carry the risks of contributing to autocratisation and the dilution of party identity.

Abortion Opinion and Partisan Choice: Untangling the Causal Dynamics

Abstract Starting in the 1980s, U.S. voters began dividing on the abortion issue into pro-life Republicans and pro-choice Democrats. This study shows that the predominant direction of causality was that abortion opinion caused changes in partisanship rather than the reverse, which then had downstream consequences for vote choice. Working with the Youth Parent Socialization Panel Study, I show that those taking pro-choice and pro-life positions in 1982 subsequently changed their party identification to align with those views. By contrast, Democrats and Republicans, as of 1982, did not realign their abortion positions. The partisan conversions were concentrated among ideologically engaged (IE) respondents, especially IE women, who found themselves out of step with their party on abortion. By triggering changes in party identification, panelists’ abortion stances as early as 1982 influenced their vote choices downstream in the 1996 presidential election. Thus, issue-based realignment is viewed here in real time with data from a panel study.

The Impacts of Political Internet Memes on Opinions: The Moderating Role of Political Party Identification

ABSTRACT Using memes on two political issues, an online experiment was conducted among a convenience sample of American adults to explore people’s reactions to political internet memes and the memes’ impacts on political opinions while considering the moderating role of political party identification. It found that memes on immigration had a significant main effect on opinions but those on gun control did not. Nonetheless, the memes on both issues produced more meme-consistent thoughts among partisans whose party shares the memes’ views than among those whose party opposes the memes’ views. Moreover, the memes supporting one’s party’s views had significant positive impacts on political opinions; but those challenging one’s party’s views had little impact. The political implications of these findings are discussed.