Daniel J. Hopkins – författare

In a campaign for state or local office these days, you're as likely today to hear accusations that an opponent advanced Obamacare or supported Donald Trump as you are to hear about issues affecting the state or local community. This is because American political behavior has become substantially more nationalized. American voters are far more engaged with and knowledgeable about what's happening in Washington, DC, than in similar messages whether they are in the South, the Northeast, or the Midwest. Gone are the days when all politics was local. With The Increasingly United States, Daniel J. Hopkins explores this trend and its implications for the American political system. The change is significant in part because it works against a key rationale of America's federalist system, which was built on the assumption that citizens would be more strongly attached to their states and localities. It also has profound implications for how voters are represented. If voters are well informed about state politics, for example, the governor has an incentive to deliver what voters--or at least a pivotal segment of them--want. But if voters are likely to back the same party in gubernatorial as in presidential elections irrespective of the governor's actions in office, governors may instead come to see their ambitions as tethered more closely to their status in the national party.

In recent decades, US voting has not only polarized but also nationalized: state-level voting choices increasingly reflect national allegiances. Such cross-level nationalization can undermine accountability. Yet understanding its sources - and whether it is distinctively American - requires comparative data. The authors assemble a novel data set linking 146,934 subnational and national election returns across 14 European and American democracies over several decades, supplemented with surveys. They find that nationalization has been steady and high for decades in most countries; the US is an outlier only in having nationalized recently. Their findings challenge monocausal explanations emphasizing media or public opinion. Instead, greater subnational authority and stronger subnational attachments predict lower nationalization. They also uncover ties between nationalization and affective polarization. More polarized voters are more likely to cast congruent ballots, though at the country level this link is driven by the US. This title is available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

In recent decades, US voting has not only polarized but also nationalized: state-level voting choices increasingly reflect national allegiances. Such cross-level nationalization can undermine accountability. Yet understanding its sources - and whether it is distinctively American - requires comparative data. The authors assemble a novel data set linking 146,934 subnational and national election returns across 14 European and American democracies over several decades, supplemented with surveys. They find that nationalization has been steady and high for decades in most countries; the US is an outlier only in having nationalized recently. Their findings challenge monocausal explanations emphasizing media or public opinion. Instead, greater subnational authority and stronger subnational attachments predict lower nationalization. They also uncover ties between nationalization and affective polarization. More polarized voters are more likely to cast congruent ballots, though at the country level this link is driven by the US. This title is available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Political Polarization in American Politics provides short, accessible chapters about the nature and extent of political polarization within the American public and in American political institutions. These chapters capture the central ideas and debates in political science research on polarization, and are written by leading scholars in this subfield. Each chapter is accompanied by discussion questions and a guide to further reading, making this a great addition to any course looking at issues of polarization.

Political Polarization in American Politics provides short, accessible chapters about the nature and extent of political polarization within the American public and in American political institutions. These chapters capture the central ideas and debates in political science research on polarization, and are written by leading scholars in this subfield. Each chapter is accompanied by discussion questions and a guide to further reading, making this a great addition to any course looking at issues of polarization.