Party Identification Research Articles

Legalize cannabis? Effects of party cues on attitudes to a controversial policy proposal

ABSTRACT This article focuses on how party identity can shape policy support or opposition to the controversial issue of legalizing cannabis in Sweden, which is strongly opposed by the public. In a survey experiment (N = 3612), we manipulated if a message that supported or opposed a policy proposal to legalize cannabis was presented by a representative of the own party or an outgroup party. Results showed increased opposition to the proposal when the ingroup party opposed the policy and when the outgroup party endorsed the policy. When the ingroup party endorsed the policy and when the outgroup party opposed the policy, attitudes to the policy were not influenced. We argue that prior attitudes moderate how ingroup- and outgroup party messages are processed and that voters do not blindly follow the party line. Only when the own party presents a position that coincides with the individual’s prior position, are attitudes strengthened and voters follow the party line. Attitudes are also strengthened as a way to increase distance to a disliked outgroup party. When the party cue contradicts prior beliefs (ingroup-endorse; outgroup-oppose), the information is ignored, which allows individuals to retain their view of the party, be it positive or negative.

Political uncertainty moderates neural evaluation of incongruent policy positions

Uncertainty has been shown to impact political evaluation, yet the exact mechanisms by which uncertainty affects the minds of citizens remain unclear. This experiment examines the neural underpinnings of uncertainty in political evaluation using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). During fMRI, participants completed an experimental task where they evaluated policy positions attributed to hypothetical political candidates. Policy positions were either congruent or incongruent with candidates' political party affiliation and presented with varying levels of certainty. Neural activity was modelled as a function of uncertainty and incongruence. Analyses suggest that neural activity in brain regions previously implicated in affective and evaluative processing (anterior cingulate cortex, insular cortex) differed as a function of the interaction between uncertainty and incongruence, such that activation in these areas was greatest when information was both certain and incongruent, and uncertainty influenced processing differently as a function of the valence of the attached information. These findings suggest that individuals are attuned to uncertainty in the stated issue positions of politicians, and that the neural processing of this uncertainty is dependent on congruence of these positions with expectations based on political party identification. Implications for the study of emotion and politics and political cognition are discussed. This article is part of the theme issue 'The political brain: neurocognitive and computational mechanisms'.

Class and Conformity: Thirty Years of Adult Child‐rearing Values in the U.S

This paper investigates trends in adult child‐rearing values in the United States over a 30‐year period, from the mid‐1980s into the first decades of the 21st century. Using data from the General Social Surveys, we report trends in emphasis on five child traits: think for self, obey, work hard, popularity, and helping others. Independent of the time of the surveys, child‐rearing values are associated with several individual attributes: gender, schooling level, occupational class, birth year, race/ethnicity, region, party identification, religious affiliation, and religiosity. Socioeconomic factors continue to be among the most important, but contrary to many arguments, occupational class, as measured by Weeden–Grusky micro‐classes, has a relatively less important role in predicting child‐rearing values, once education is taken into account. Religious variables are also important, less so than socioeconomic factors, but there is support for the hypothesis of the growing strength over time in the impact of religious conservatism and participation.

Explaining Islamophobia in Australia: partisanship, intergroup contact, and local context

ABSTRACT Recent events have placed a spotlight on Muslim-majority relations in Australia, yet research on majority-group Australians’ attitudes toward Muslims is scarce. Drawing on recent survey data augmented with local census data and a web-scraped listing of Australian mosques, and using the tools of multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) and multi-group structural equation modelling (MGSEM), this article seeks to explain Islamophobia in Australia. It finds that political party identification, contact with Muslims, and the local prevalence of Muslims all shape Islamophobic attitudes among majority-group Australians. Notably, the effects of intergroup contact and local context vary across different segments of the Australian electorate, with contact and context exerting greater effects among supporters of the Australian Labor Party compared to the Liberal Party–National Party coalition.

Can we detect conditioned variation in political speech? two kinds of discussion and types of conversation.

Previous work has demonstrated that certain speech patterns vary systematically between sociodemographic groups, so that in some cases the way a person speaks is a valid cue to group membership. Our work addresses whether or not participants use these linguistic cues when assessing a speaker's likely political identity. We use a database of speeches by U.S. Congressional representatives to isolate words that are statistically diagnostic of a speaker's party identity. In a series of four studies, we demonstrate that participants' judgments track variation in word usage between the two parties more often than chance, and that this effect persists even when potentially interfering cues such as the meaning of the word are controlled for. Our results are consistent with a body of literature suggesting that humans' language-related judgments reflect the statistical distributions of our environment.

Why democrats abandon democracy: Evidence from four survey experiments

In several world regions, democracy is in retreat. This retreat is taking place amid growing polarization in many countries, and analysts are increasingly concerned with the role that deepening political divisions play in processes of democratic decline. This article investigates the relationship between partisan polarization and deteriorating public support for democratic institutions. It leverages the case of Indonesia, a major third-wave democracy now in the midst of a democratic regression. Indonesia’s political landscape has become more ideologically polarized in recent years, despite the strength of clientelist networks and low levels of party identification. Using four survey experiments, we find that Indonesians embrace illiberal interventions and abandon democratic institutions when exposed to party and leadership cues. These results suggest that political polarization may prompt citizens to abandon democratic norms even in democracies without strong partisan identities.

Technocratic attitudes and voting behaviour ten years after the Eurozone crisis: Evidence from the 2019 EP elections

The onset of the Great Recession raised the profile of technocracy, or government by experts, as a contrasting model to democracy. Yet, there is little research on how attitudes towards technocracy may impact European citizens' political behaviour. Moreover, the consistency of technocracy supporters' political attitudes, especially towards the EU, is questionable. This paper uses new survey panel data collected before and after the European parliament elections in May 2019 in six countries (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain). We investigate how citizens’ technocratic attitudes affect their voting behaviour in the European elections. We find evidence that citizens with technocratic attitudes are less likely to support mainstream parties, and tend to either abstain or, if they vote, to give their vote to anti-system parties, especially from the populist right. In addition, by distinguishing technocracy supporters according to their partisanship, we conclude that technocracy is a thin ideology that can be combined with different patterns of political support: while many technocracy supporters have no party identification or support non-mainstream parties and show dissatisfaction with democracy and the EU, another subgroup of technocracy supporters identifies with a mainstream political party and show above average political support and support for the EU.

Stability and change in party preferences: Evidence from Latin America

Why do voters shift partisan allegiances between elections and/or within electoral cycles? Drawing on panel survey data, this study is designed to enhance our understanding of shifting partisan preferences byexploring vote switching and split-ticket voting inthe Latin American context. Its main finding and contribution to the existing literature on stability and change in partisan preferences centers around the importance of candidate viability relative to party identification and other individual characteristics shaping vote choice.

How voters choose one out of many: a conjoint analysis of the effects of endorsements on candidate choice

ABSTRACT Candidate endorsements affect the likelihood that people vote for a candidate since they reduce the efforts devoted to vote choices. However, the effects of endorsements from different sources remain under-explored. Furthermore, the effects of endorsements are believed to vary with the level of political sophistication, as voters with low sophistication are more reliant on such shortcuts, but it is unclear whether these differences are similar for different sources. We study the effects of endorsements from three different sources – family and close friends, networks on social media and Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) – on candidate favorability. We do so with a choice-based conjoint experiment embedded in a survey from Finland (n = 1021), where we also examine differences in effects across political sophistication (political interest, frequency of political discussions, internal political efficacy, party identification, and voting in the last parliamentary election). The results show that endorsements from VAAs and family and friends have positive effects while social media networks do not. We do not find systematic differences in effects across levels of political sophistication no matter how we operationalize it. This shows that it is important to consider the source of an endorsement to appreciate the effect, no matter who is the recipient.

How Asians React to Discrimination Does Not Depend on Their Party Identification

How do individuals respond to discrimination against their group? The authors help answer this normatively important question by conducting a survey with a large, national, quota-based sample of 2,482 Asians living in the United States during December 2020. In the survey, the authors provide respondents with truthful information about the increasing prevalence of anti-Asian discrimination in the United States during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and ask them to write about what this makes them feel or think about life in America. Using automatic text analysis tools to analyze this rich, novel set of personal reflections, the authors show in this visualization that Asian reactions to discrimination do not meaningfully differ across partisan identification. These findings extend the large literature showing partisan differences in perceptions of racial discrimination and its effects by the general public and show at least one way in which partisan polarization does not influence American views.

Visualizing Partisan Identification Switching in the General Social Survey Panel, 2016–2020

This visualization captures shifts in partisan identification in the 2016–2020 General Social Survey Panel. Although most partisans remained stable in their identifications, a significant proportion of respondents either shifted to the opposing party or became independents. These patterns have important implications for our understanding of recent party realignment, trends in partisanship, and the care needed when using party identification as an independent variable.

Downstream Effects of Voting on Turnout and Political Preferences: Long-Run Evidence from the UK

Does voting have downstream consequences for turnout and political preferences? While research initially showed strong support for the notion that the experience of voting fosters civic habits and political engagement, recent work has cast doubt on how universal these patterns are. We contribute to this debate by studying the short- and long-term impact of earlier voting eligibility on subsequent turnout and political preferences using rich panel data from the UK. Exploiting the eligibility cut-off for national elections within a regression discontinuity design, we document a short-run increase in party identification, political interest and democratic norms for those able to vote earlier. However, these short-term effects quickly fade away and do not translate into permanent changes in turnout propensity or political preferences. Our results imply that the transformative effects of voting are short-lived, at most, in a setting with low institutional barriers to vote.

Environmental Awareness and Concern over Transboundary Oil Spill in Bintan Island: a Preliminary Analysis Results

Regarding its strategic position which also has environmental potential and actual threats, Kepulauan Riau Province (Riau Island) is facing some challenges. This study discussed the environmental awareness and concern over transboundary oil spills case in Bintan Island, Kepulauan Riau. This study organized a regional cross-sectional survey exploring: (1) knowledge, (2) attitudes, (3) political attitudes, and (4) political perception in relation to transboundary oil spills case. This finding has an important implication for developing a more significant information and socialization on environmental politics and governance towards people in Bintan Island. It also argued that Awareness violates voting process, while, Party Identification and Concern have a positive impact on voting probability. The relevance of Awareness is supported by the inclusion of variable control even though our variable control were not significant.

The Substantive Basis of Ideological Identification and its Behavioral Consequences in the United States

Scholars of political representation debate whether ideology is issue based–i.e., founded on substantive attitudes — or a social identity — i.e., derived from a sense of group-belonging. I argue that there is no contradiction between identity and issue-based ideology and that the degree of disconnect between attitudes and ideological self-placement has been exaggerated. I examine 10 panel surveys, spanning 45 years and 295,405 interviews, to show that ideological identification is about as stable over time as that greatest of political identities: partisanship. Additionally, data from the American National Election Studies indicate that ideological self-placement today is as affectively loaded as party identification. I also show that the labels liberal,'' moderate,'' and conservative'' are strongly predictive of attitudes, once we control for measurement error. Therefore, ideology has both an identity-based and an attitudinal dimension to it. Scholars also debate whether or not ideology matters in American politics. Some argue that it is predictive of behavior, while others claim its role is negligible. I employ a variety of estimators to isolate the independent relationship between ideological identification and presidential, Congressional and gubernatorial vote choice. I find significant and substantively large effects of ideology on presidential and Congressional elections. These results suggest a more optimistic view of democracy than has been the norm among most students of American politics — one in which voters are comfortable with ideological language and vote accordingly.

Willingness-to-pay for restoration of water quality services across geo-political boundaries

Establishing the value attached to ecosystem services provides instrumental information in the planning of conservation initiatives to ensure forest ecosystem sustainability. This study fills a gap in the literature regarding the value associated with ecosystem services for which their direct use can be challenged by distance and geo-political boundaries. We estimated US residents' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the restoration of degraded temperate out-of-state and tropical out-of-the-country forested watersheds for improved water quality services under hypothetical payment for ecosystem services (PES) programs. Factors influencing WTP were estimated using a bivariate probit model and mean WTP values adjusted for self-reported certainty of responses. Transboundary economic value decay was reflected on lower households' annual WTP values for the restoration of the tropical out-of-the-country (US$ 124.15–238.30) than temperate out-of-state (US$ 131.70–256.79) forested watershed ecosystems. Bequest and existence were the non-use value motivations most strongly associated with WTP for temperate out-of-state and tropical international PES programs, respectively. Other salient explanatory variables included program cost to households, age, sex, income, household size, political party identification, attitudes towards PES, affiliation with environmental conservation group and direct experience with comparable natural resources. This study offers evidence of positive prospects for transboundary PES programs to restore geographically delimited ecosystem services driven by existence, option and bequest value motivations.

Party Organizations Around the Globe. Introducing the Varieties of Party Identity and Organization Dataset (V-Party)

This research project was supported by the Swedish Research Council [Vetenskapsradet] [grant number 2018-016114], PI: Anna Luhrmann and European Research Council [H2020 European Research Council], grant 724191, PI: Staffan I. Lindberg, V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Sweden as well as by internal grants from the Office of the Vice- Chancellor, the Dean of the Department of Social Sciences, and the Department of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg. Nils Dupont appreciates funding from the German Research Foundation [Deutsche Forschungsgemein- schaft] via Collaborative Research Center [SFB] 1342 “Global Dynamics of Social Policy” at the University of Bremen.

Left-wing parties in Europe since the new millennium: dilemmas and development prospects

The left-wing parties in Europe are at the core of leading the world's left-wing movement. After the end of the Cold War, the European left-wing parties, as the front line against neoliberalism, faced severe challenges. The decline of party identity, the continuous decline of party governance performance, the rise of right-wing populist forces, and the continuous division of left-wing parties have affected the development trend of the European left-wing movement. This article analyses the current policy propositions of contemporary European left-wing parties, reveals the current challenges faced by European left-wing parties, analyses the future development trends of European left-wing parties, and provides path support for the vigorous development of the European left-wing movement.

Weaponizing En Banc

The federal courts of appeals embrace the ideal that judges are committed to rule of law norms, collegiality, and judicial independence. Whatever else divides them, these judges generally agree that partisan identity has no place on the bench. Consequently, when a court of appeals sits “en banc,” (i.e. collectively) the party affiliations of the three-judge panel under review should not matter. Starting in the 1980s, however, partisan ideology has grown increasingly important in the selection of federal appellate judges. It thus stands to reason (and several high-profile modern examples illustrate) that today’s en banc review could be used as a weapon by whatever party has appointed the most judges on any particular circuit. A weaponized en banc reflects more than just ideological differences between judges. We define the phrase to capture a “team mentality” on the courts of appeals – an us versus them – where the judges vote in blocs aligned by the party of the President who appointed them and use en banc review to reverse panels composed of members from the other team. In this article, we test whether en banc review is now or ever has been weaponized. We make use of an original data set – the most comprehensive one of which we are aware – that tracks en banc decisions over six decades. Our findings are surprising in two very different ways. The bulk of our data indicates that rule of law norms are deeply embedded. From the 1960s through 2017, en banc review seems to have developed some sort of immunity from partisan behavior over time, and we unpack potential reasons why. But that important and long-lasting immunity could now be in danger. Our data from 2018-2020 show a dramatic and statistically significant surge in behavior consistent with the weaponizing of en banc. It is too soon to tell whether this is a temporary change or an inflection point indicating a more permanent shift. We consider both possibilities and, in so doing, highlight the critical role that en banc review plays in ascertaining judicial commitment to rule of law norms. The time may soon be upon us to confront the cost of en banc review in a regime where party identity frequently trumps other judicial impulses.

Controlling Shareholder Ownership Structure and Conflict-Related Party Transactions

Concentrated companies offer various types of shareholding structures either direct, indirect, or pyramidal ownership. The opportunist controlling shareholders may intend to utilize the complex nature of indirect and pyramidal shareholding to engage in related party transactions (RPT) by concealing or hiding their related party identity. We examine the association between controlling shareholder’s shareholding structure (direct shareholding (DCS), indirect shareholding (INDCS), and pyramid shareholding (PYRCS)) and RPT in Malaysia. Based on a sample of 580 companies listed on Bursa Malaysia from 2013 to 2017, we found that the controlling shareholders utilize all types of shareholding (DCS, INDCS, and PYRCS) to engage with RPT. These findings support the argument that the controlling shareholder is at the privilege to manipulate the various type of shareholding to get personal benefit through RPT. The findings also indicate that controlling shareholders with INDCS or PYRCS disclose a lower magnitude of RPT-conflict rather than controlling shareholders with DCS. We provide an important implication for capital market regulators to strengthen approval procedures or guidelines for RPT, especially upon the concentrated ownership. Also, regulators such as the MSWG may increase minority shareholder’s awareness of the possibility of conflict-RPT behind the RPT among related party companies. The findings might be helpful for users to understand the relationship between controlling shareholders and RPT in other developing countries with similar governance and culture attributes to Malaysia. Keywords: Related party transaction, ownership, controlling shareholder, personal benefit, pyramidal ownership.

Izbori u Bosni i Hercegovini za Konstituantu Kraljevine Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca i pretvaranje društvenih rascjepa u političke podjele

Based on the available literature, social division is defined as a measure that separates community members into groups. When it comes to Bosnia and Herzegovina and its population who spoke the same language and shared the same territory, the confessional (millet) division from the time of Turkish rule, as a fundamental social fact on the basis of which the Serbian and Croatian national identity of the Bosnian Catholic and the Orthodox population remained in Bosnia and Herzegovina even after the departure of the Austro-Hungarian administration in 1918. Historical confessional and ethnic divisions that developed in the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian periods became the key and only basis for political and party gatherings and are important for today's Bosnia and Herzegovina segmented society. The paper attempts to examine the applicability of the analytical framework (theory) of Lipset and Rokan (formulated in the 1960s) on social divisions in the case of the elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the Constituent Assembly of the Kingdom of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs in 1920? Elements for the answer can be offered by the analysis of the relationship between the ethno-confessional affiliation of citizens, on the one hand, party affiliation, on the other and their acceptance of certain political attitudes and values on the third side. If there is a significant interrelation, it could be concluded that at least indirectly the lines of social divisions condition the party-political division. The political system, of course, is not just a simple reflex of social divisions. One should first try to find the answer to the initial questions: what are the key lines of social divisions? How do they overlap and intersect? How and under what conditions does the transformation of social divisions into a party system take place? The previously stated social divisions passed through the filter of political entrepreneurs and returned as a political offer in which the specific interests and motives of (ethnic) political entrepreneurs were included and incorporated. After the end of the First World War, ethnic, confessional and cultural divisions were (and still are) very present in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The key lines of division in the ethnic, confessional and cultural spheres, their development and predominantly multipolar (four-polar) character through changes in the forms and breadth of interest and political organization have influenced political options (divisions) and further complicating and strengthening B&H political splits. The concept of cleavage is a mediating concept between the concept of social stratification and its impact on political grouping and political institutions and the political concept that emphasizes the reciprocal influence of political institutions and decisions on changes in social structure. Thanks to political mobilization in ethno-confessional, cultural and class divisions, then the "history of collective memory" and inherited ethno-confessional conflicts, mass political party movements were formed very quickly in Bosnia and Herzegovina as an integral part of the Kingdom of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs ( Yugoslav Muslim organization, Communist Party of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav Democratic Party, Croatian Farmers' Party, Croatian People's Party, Farmers' Union, People's Radical Party ...). The lines of social divisions overlap with ethnic divisions (Yugoslav Muslim Organization, Croatian Farmers' Party, Croatian People's Party, Farmers' Union, People's Radical Party ...) but also intersect them so that several ethnic groups can coexist within the same party-political framework (Communist Party of Yugoslavia). The significant, even crucial influence of party affiliation and identification on the adoption of certain attitudes speaks of the strong feedback of the parties and even of some kind of created party identity. The paper discusses the first elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina organized during the Kingdom of SCS and the formation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's political spectrum on the basic lines of social divisions.