Elements in American Politics – serie
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36 produkter
36 produkter
The Partisan Next Door
Stereotypes of Party Supporters and Consequences for Polarization in America
Häftad, Engelska, 2021
232 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
In the United States, politics has become tribal and personalized. The influence of partisan divisions has extended beyond the political realm into everyday life, affecting relationships and workplaces as well as the ballot box. To help explain this trend, we examine the stereotypes Americans have of ordinary Democrats and Republicans. Using data from surveys, experiments, and Americans' own words, we explore the content of partisan stereotypes and find that they come in three main flavors-parties as their own tribes, coalitions of other tribes, or vehicles for political issues. These different stereotypes influence partisan conflict: people who hold trait-based stereotypes tend to display the highest levels of polarization, while holding issue-based stereotypes decreases polarization. This finding suggests that reducing partisan conflict does not require downplaying partisan divisions but shifting the focus to political priorities rather than identity-a turn to what we call responsible partisanship.
727 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Building on a deep theoretical foundation and drawing on numerous examples, we examine how policies spread across the American states. We argue that for good policies to spread while bad policies are pushed aside, states must learn from one another. The three ingredients for this positive outcome are observable experiments, time to learn, and favorable incentives and expertise among policymakers. Although these ingredients are sometimes plentiful, we also note causes for concern, such as when policies are complex or incompatible with current practices, when policymakers give in to underlying political biases, or when political institutions lack the capacity for cultivating expertise. Under such conditions, states may rely on competition, imitation, and coercion, rather than learning, which can allow bad policies, rather than good ones, to spread. We conclude with lessons for reformers and policymakers and an assessment of our overall argument based on state responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Partisan Next Door
Stereotypes of Party Supporters and Consequences for Polarization in America
Inbunden, Engelska, 2021
695 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
In the United States, politics has become tribal and personalized. The influence of partisan divisions has extended beyond the political realm into everyday life, affecting relationships and workplaces as well as the ballot box. To help explain this trend, we examine the stereotypes Americans have of ordinary Democrats and Republicans. Using data from surveys, experiments, and Americans' own words, we explore the content of partisan stereotypes and find that they come in three main flavors-parties as their own tribes, coalitions of other tribes, or vehicles for political issues. These different stereotypes influence partisan conflict: people who hold trait-based stereotypes tend to display the highest levels of polarization, while holding issue-based stereotypes decreases polarization. This finding suggests that reducing partisan conflict does not require downplaying partisan divisions but shifting the focus to political priorities rather than identity-a turn to what we call responsible partisanship.
727 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
A central question in political representation is whether government responds to the people. To understand that, we need to know what the government is doing, and what the people think of it. We seek to understand a key question necessary to answer those bigger questions: How does American public opinion move over time? We posit three patterns of change over time in public opinion, depending on the type of issue. Issues on which the two parties regularly disagree provide clear partisan cues to the public. For these party-cue issues we present a slight variation on the thermostatic theory from (Soroka and Wlezien (2010); Wlezien (1995)); our "implied thermostatic model." A smaller number of issues divide the public along lines unrelated to partisanship, and so partisan control of government provides no relevant clue. Finally, we note a small but important class of issues which capture response to cultural shifts.
The Full Armor of God
The Mobilization of Christian Nationalism in American Politics
Häftad, Engelska, 2023
215 kr
Skickas
Academic research on Christian nationalism has revealed a considerable amount about the scope of its relationships to public policy views in the US. However, work thus far has not addressed an essential question: why now? Research by the authors of this Element advances answers, showcasing how deeper engagement with 'the 3Ms' - measurement, mechanisms and mobilization - can help unpack how and why Christian nationalism has entered our politics as a partisan project. Indeed, it is difficult to understand the dynamics of Christian nationalism without reference to the parties, as it has been a worldview used to mobilize Republicans while simultaneously recruiting and demobilizing Democrats. The mechanisms of these efforts hinge on a deep desire for social dominance that is ordained by God - an order elites suggest is threatened by Democrats and 'the left.' These elite appeals can have sweeping consequences for opinion and action, including the public's support for democratic processes.
232 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
This Element examines congressional party election agendas, asking first how they originate and what priorities within the party they strategically represent and, second, how they shape post-election legislative activity and policymaking. After surveying post-1980 agenda efforts, it focuses on two prominent cases, the Republican Contract with America (1994) and the Democratic New Direction for America (2006). Using archived records and other qualitative evidence, it shows that both agendas were leadership-driven but were developed in lengthy and relatively inclusive processes. Quantifying agenda content, it demonstrates that the parties strategically skewed agenda promises toward select segments of the caucus, as measured in bill introduction priorities, and the promises echoed leadership messaging from speeches and floor motions in the Congress before the election. After winning a majority, both parties shifted the House's legislative activity sharply toward agenda priorities, but the impact on policy outcomes was substantially constrained.
727 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
This Element examines congressional party election agendas, asking first how they originate and what priorities within the party they strategically represent and, second, how they shape post-election legislative activity and policymaking. After surveying post-1980 agenda efforts, it focuses on two prominent cases, the Republican Contract with America (1994) and the Democratic New Direction for America (2006). Using archived records and other qualitative evidence, it shows that both agendas were leadership-driven but were developed in lengthy and relatively inclusive processes. Quantifying agenda content, it demonstrates that the parties strategically skewed agenda promises toward select segments of the caucus, as measured in bill introduction priorities, and the promises echoed leadership messaging from speeches and floor motions in the Congress before the election. After winning a majority, both parties shifted the House's legislative activity sharply toward agenda priorities, but the impact on policy outcomes was substantially constrained.
The Haves and Have-Nots in Supreme Court Representation and Participation, 2016 to 2021
Häftad, Engelska, 2025
214 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Courts are often thought of as protectors of minority rights. What happens when the composition of courts changes such that politically disadvantaged groups expect a less favorable reception? This Element examines whether the increasing conservatism of the US Supreme Court during Donald Trump's presidency changed the behavior of litigants and amicus curiae. The authors test whether membership changes led to reduced filings by individuals and organizations representing marginalized groups and increased filings by businesses and conservative states and interest groups. The authors find substantial reductions in participation by the most politically disadvantaged and substantial increases in participation by the most conservative groups.
The Full Armor of God
The Mobilization of Christian Nationalism in American Politics
Inbunden, Engelska, 2023
727 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Academic research on Christian nationalism has revealed a considerable amount about the scope of its relationships to public policy views in the US. However, work thus far has not addressed an essential question: why now? Research by the authors of this Element advances answers, showcasing how deeper engagement with 'the 3Ms' - measurement, mechanisms and mobilization - can help unpack how and why Christian nationalism has entered our politics as a partisan project. Indeed, it is difficult to understand the dynamics of Christian nationalism without reference to the parties, as it has been a worldview used to mobilize Republicans while simultaneously recruiting and demobilizing Democrats. The mechanisms of these efforts hinge on a deep desire for social dominance that is ordained by God - an order elites suggest is threatened by Democrats and 'the left.' These elite appeals can have sweeping consequences for opinion and action, including the public's support for democratic processes.
232 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
This is a study of the dynamics of partisan polarization in the United States. It has three objectives: (1) to identify and explain why some Republicans and Democrats - but not others - have polarized, particularly over the last twenty years; (2) to demonstrate that they have done so not on this or that issue but systematically, programmatically - domain versus issue sorting; and (3) to bring into the open profound asymmetries in polarization between the two parties, not least that Republicans polarized early and thoroughly on issues of race, while Democrats in the largest number stayed neutral or even conservative until only recently. Emerging from the reasoning and results is a revised theory of party identification that specifies the conditions under which ordinary Republicans and Democrats can become ideological partisans - real-life conservatives and liberals in their behavior - in the choices they make on candidates, policies, and parties.
748 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
This is a study of the dynamics of partisan polarization in the United States. It has three objectives: (1) to identify and explain why some Republicans and Democrats - but not others - have polarized, particularly over the last twenty years; (2) to demonstrate that they have done so not on this or that issue but systematically, programmatically - domain versus issue sorting; and (3) to bring into the open profound asymmetries in polarization between the two parties, not least that Republicans polarized early and thoroughly on issues of race, while Democrats in the largest number stayed neutral or even conservative until only recently. Emerging from the reasoning and results is a revised theory of party identification that specifies the conditions under which ordinary Republicans and Democrats can become ideological partisans - real-life conservatives and liberals in their behavior - in the choices they make on candidates, policies, and parties.
The Dimensions and Implications of the Public's Reactions to the January 6, 2021, Invasion of the U.S. Capitol
Häftad, Engelska, 2024
239 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
The January 6, 2021 invasion of the US Capitol building by a mob trying to block certification of Biden's victory attacked a bedrock principle of American democracy, the peaceful transfer of power following an election. This Element reviews how the pubic evaluated the invaders, their actions, Donald Trump's responsibility, and the House investigations as they evolved after January 6. It then analyzes these reactions in the broader context of contemporary American politics and considers the consequences of January 6 for the 2022 election, the Republican coalition, polarization, Trump's indictments, electoral politics in 2024, and the future health of American democracy.
The Dimensions and Implications of the Public's Reactions to the January 6, 2021, Invasion of the U.S. Capitol
Inbunden, Engelska, 2024
771 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
The January 6, 2021 invasion of the US Capitol building by a mob trying to block certification of Biden's victory attacked a bedrock principle of American democracy, the peaceful transfer of power following an election. This Element reviews how the pubic evaluated the invaders, their actions, Donald Trump's responsibility, and the House investigations as they evolved after January 6. It then analyzes these reactions in the broader context of contemporary American politics and considers the consequences of January 6 for the 2022 election, the Republican coalition, polarization, Trump's indictments, electoral politics in 2024, and the future health of American democracy.
Cooperating Factions
A Network Analysis of Party Divisions in U.S. Presidential Nominations
Inbunden, Engelska, 2024
748 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Popular accounts of presidential nomination politics in the United States focus on factions, lanes, or even a civil war within the party. This Element uses data on party leader endorsements in nominations to identify a network of party actors and the apparent long-standing divisions within each party. The authors find that there are divisions, but they do not generally map to the competing camps described by most observers. Instead, they find parties that, while regularly divided, generally tend to have a dominant establishment group, which combines the interests of many factions, even as some factions sometimes challenge that establishment. This pattern fits a conception of factions as focused on reshaping the party, but not necessarily on undermining it.
Cooperating Factions
A Network Analysis of Party Divisions in U.S. Presidential Nominations
Häftad, Engelska, 2024
232 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Popular accounts of presidential nomination politics in the United States focus on factions, lanes, or even a civil war within the party. This Element uses data on party leader endorsements in nominations to identify a network of party actors and the apparent long-standing divisions within each party. The authors find that there are divisions, but they do not generally map to the competing camps described by most observers. Instead, they find parties that, while regularly divided, generally tend to have a dominant establishment group, which combines the interests of many factions, even as some factions sometimes challenge that establishment. This pattern fits a conception of factions as focused on reshaping the party, but not necessarily on undermining it.
The Haves and Have-Nots in Supreme Court Representation and Participation, 2016 to 2021
Inbunden, Engelska, 2025
689 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Courts are often thought of as protectors of minority rights. What happens when the composition of courts changes such that politically disadvantaged groups expect a less favorable reception? This Element examines whether the increasing conservatism of the US Supreme Court during Donald Trump's presidency changed the behavior of litigants and amicus curiae. The authors test whether membership changes led to reduced filings by individuals and organizations representing marginalized groups and increased filings by businesses and conservative states and interest groups. The authors find substantial reductions in participation by the most politically disadvantaged and substantial increases in participation by the most conservative groups.
Shifting Allegiances
The Election of Latino Republicans to Congress and State Legislatures
Inbunden, Engelska, 2025
681 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Shifting Allegiances provides a comprehensive analysis of the increasing presence and influence of Latino Republicans in Congress and state legislatures. Contrary to past assumptions, this Element reveals that Latino Republicans are a diverse group, no longer confined to Cuban Americans in South Florida. By examining election data and candidate characteristics since 2018, the authors uncover the factors contributing to the success of Latino Republicans, including district demographics, conservative values, and strategic campaigning. This shift in political dynamics highlights a broader trend of ideological realignment and offers insights into the evolving landscape of Latino political representation in the United States.
Shifting Allegiances
The Election of Latino Republicans to Congress and State Legislatures
Häftad, Engelska, 2025
220 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Shifting Allegiances provides a comprehensive analysis of the increasing presence and influence of Latino Republicans in Congress and state legislatures. Contrary to past assumptions, this Element reveals that Latino Republicans are a diverse group, no longer confined to Cuban Americans in South Florida. By examining election data and candidate characteristics since 2018, the authors uncover the factors contributing to the success of Latino Republicans, including district demographics, conservative values, and strategic campaigning. This shift in political dynamics highlights a broader trend of ideological realignment and offers insights into the evolving landscape of Latino political representation in the United States.
220 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
This Element explores how Congress has designed laws reliant on an assumption of presidential self-restraint, an expectation that presidents would respect statutory goals by declining to use their formal powers in ways that were legally permissible but contrary to stated congressional intent. Examining several laws addressing political appointments since the 1970s - statutes involving the FBI director, Office of Personnel Management director, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, director of national intelligence, Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, inspectors general, Senior Executive Service, vacancies, Social Security Administration commissioner, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director - the authors demonstrate lawmakers' reliance on presidential self-restraint in statutory design and identify a variety of institutional tools used to signal those expectations. Furthermore, the authors identify a developmental dilemma: the combined rise of polarization, presidentialism, and constitutional formalism threatens to leave Congress more dependent on presidential self-restraint, even as that norm's reliability is increasingly questionable.
681 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
This Element explores how Congress has designed laws reliant on an assumption of presidential self-restraint, an expectation that presidents would respect statutory goals by declining to use their formal powers in ways that were legally permissible but contrary to stated congressional intent. Examining several laws addressing political appointments since the 1970s - statutes involving the FBI director, Office of Personnel Management director, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, director of national intelligence, Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, inspectors general, Senior Executive Service, vacancies, Social Security Administration commissioner, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director - the authors demonstrate lawmakers' reliance on presidential self-restraint in statutory design and identify a variety of institutional tools used to signal those expectations. Furthermore, the authors identify a developmental dilemma: the combined rise of polarization, presidentialism, and constitutional formalism threatens to leave Congress more dependent on presidential self-restraint, even as that norm's reliability is increasingly questionable.
- Nyhet
214 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Although the Supreme Court has historically resisted a partisan sorting out of its public legitimacy, today, Republicans and Democrats look at the Court in very different ways. This Element assembles original survey and experimental data to unpack these changes in three ways. First, the authors illustrate the powerful role that partisanship plays in shaping judicial public opinion. Second, they validate a new three-item measure of specific support and show that it reliably predicts perceptions of Supreme Court legitimacy. Finally, they introduce a new, applied measure of support for the rule of law and connect it to specific and diffuse support. Taken as a whole, their work demonstrates that large chunks of the mass public view the Supreme Court critically. Looking ahead, it is unclear whether legitimacy will rebound when citizens perceive that the balance of judicial power within the nation's High Court has fractured along party lines.
- Nyhet
Supremely Polarizing
How Partisanship Structures Support for the Supreme Court
Inbunden, Engelska, 2026
689 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Although the Supreme Court has historically resisted a partisan sorting out of its public legitimacy, today, Republicans and Democrats look at the Court in very different ways. This Element assembles original survey and experimental data to unpack these changes in three ways. First, the authors illustrate the powerful role that partisanship plays in shaping judicial public opinion. Second, they validate a new three-item measure of specific support and show that it reliably predicts perceptions of Supreme Court legitimacy. Finally, they introduce a new, applied measure of support for the rule of law and connect it to specific and diffuse support. Taken as a whole, their work demonstrates that large chunks of the mass public view the Supreme Court critically. Looking ahead, it is unclear whether legitimacy will rebound when citizens perceive that the balance of judicial power within the nation's High Court has fractured along party lines.
748 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
This Element presents an analysis of campaign finance in city council elections in four midsize Massachusetts cities. It shows that while money does not determine local election outcomes it plays a gatekeeping role - especially for nonincumbents. Moreover, this money comes from a very unrepresentative segment of the electorate. Although elections in these cities are nonpartisan, individual donors and interest groups are sorted into networks that function like political parties. The Element also shows that donors tend to be substantially more liberal than city residents. This can lead cities to adopt policies that are at odds with the views and needs of cities' less-wealthy inhabitants, including racial minorities. Despite low financial stakes relative to national races, campaign finance in midsize city elections reflects and reinforces broader patterns of political inequality. The result is a campaign finance system that disadvantages city residents who lack the cues that exist in other elections.
232 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
This Element presents an analysis of campaign finance in city council elections in four midsize Massachusetts cities. It shows that while money does not determine local election outcomes it plays a gatekeeping role - especially for nonincumbents. Moreover, this money comes from a very unrepresentative segment of the electorate. Although elections in these cities are nonpartisan, individual donors and interest groups are sorted into networks that function like political parties. The Element also shows that donors tend to be substantially more liberal than city residents. This can lead cities to adopt policies that are at odds with the views and needs of cities' less-wealthy inhabitants, including racial minorities. Despite low financial stakes relative to national races, campaign finance in midsize city elections reflects and reinforces broader patterns of political inequality. The result is a campaign finance system that disadvantages city residents who lack the cues that exist in other elections.
232 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
With the victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 United States presidential election, populists have come to power in the US for the first time in many years. However, US political scientists have been flat-footed in their response, failing to anticipate or measure populism's impact on the campaign or to offer useful policy responses. In contrast, populism has long been an important topic of study for political scientists studying other regions, especially Latin America and Europe. The conceptual and theoretical insights of comparativist scholars can benefit Americanists, and applying their techniques can help US scholars and policymakers place events in perspective.
Policy Success in an Age of Gridlock
How the Toxic Substances Control Act was Finally Reformed
Häftad, Engelska, 2018
232 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Since 1990, polarization hindered changing environmental policy statutorily. Yet, in mid-2016 the Lautenberg Act regulating toxics - chemicals employed in commerce - was passed, winning business and environmental support. What might explain this? Has the Trump administration undercut the law's effects? Does the Act's passage portend more progressive actions? We show that the Act was a function of the status quo changing due to regulatory efforts abroad and in the United States, and from outside pressures on business. These influences impacted implementation, with the Trump administration not targeting toxics regulation analogous to other programs. Further, the processes we observe for toxics may not be unique.
232 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Scholars of legislative politics often note the many differences between the British House of Commons and the United States House of Representatives. These include differences in party strength, members' partisan loyalty on votes, and general institutional structure. Because of these differences, scholars have rarely compared these chambers directly. This Element aims to do precisely that. The authors point out the many similar motivations of members in both chambers, and leverage these similar motivations to theorize that member ideology, as well as how party agenda interact to produce party disloyalty. Using data on legislative voting following changes in agenda control, the authors demonstrate that ideological extremists in both the US and UK use party disloyalty to connect with ideologically extreme constituents. The similarities in patterns across these chambers suggest that legislative scholars have much to gain by considering the commonalities across American and British politics, and in general, by thinking more frequently about US legislative politics in a comparative context.
232 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Americans are not invulnerable to factual information. They do not 'backfire'; facts do not make them less accurate. Instead, they become more accurate, even when corrections target co-partisans. Corrections of fake news yield similar results. Among Republicans, Trump's misstatements are less susceptible to corrections than identical misstatements attributed to other Republicans. While we do not observe facts affecting attitudes, multiple instances of misinformation can increase approval of the responsible politician - but corrections can reduce approval by similar amounts. While corrections do not eliminate false beliefs, they reduce the share of inaccurate beliefs among subjects in this study nearly in half.
232 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
This Element explores the growing party divisions on the environment in the United States. It draws upon quantitative and qualitative data from several decades of national and state politics. The study contributes theory to the party position change literature, showing that interest groups change parties, but in turn are changed by them. In the 1970s the characteristics that predicted voters' attitudes on the environment also predicted legislators' votes. Yet as environmentalists and their opponents aligned with parties, officials had incentives to set their own views aside to represent new party constituencies. Influence flowed in both directions, however. Environmentalists were drawn to the Democrats as they confronted GOP-linked business lobbies. Environmentalists' resulting need to cooperate with other groups close to Democrats led them to change their positions. Although environmentalists were long unwelcoming to minorities, they embraced immigration reform, allied with unions on trade, and worked with civil rights lobbies and labor in battles over judicial nominations. The Element concludes with discussion of how the current party alignment on the environment might change.
Legislative Hardball
The House Freedom Caucus and the Power of Threat-Making in Congress
Häftad, Engelska, 2019
232 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Assertive bargaining occurs from time to time in the US Congress. It became an important feature of legislative negotiations within the House Republican Party when, following the 2014 elections, a group of organized conservatives called the House Freedom Caucus regularly issued threats against its own party's leadership. Such behavior by an ideologically extreme bloc of lawmakers is not accounted for by existing theories of legislative politics. This Element posits explanations for why such threat-making might occur and what might increase its likelihood of success, then tests those explanations using the Freedom Caucus as a case study.