Party politics itself can be a form of identity politics, even if our party identifications are downstream from other elements of identity, such as race, religion, and class.
Groenendyk offers a new explanation for how partisans' antipathy toward the opposing party can coexist with growing frustration towards their own.
From a purely rational perspective, when our party disappoints us, we should reevaluate our support for that party, becoming independent or even joining the other side.
According to Groenendyk, we can resolve the tension between our party identifications and our frustration with our parties by increasing our antipathy toward our parties' opponents.
Using survey data over multiple election cycles, Groenendyk showed that decreasing fondness among partisans for their own parties was associated with growing hostility toward the opposition party.
If out-group hostility is more important to party identification than support for particular policies or ideologies, we may not actually place very many ideological demands on our parties.
According to Groenendyk: "If partisans' identities are increasingly anchored to hatred of the outparty than affection for their inparty, electoral dynamics are likely much more fluid than many accounts suggest. Thus, insurgent candidates with questionable ideological credentials may be more appealing than one might expect in the age of ideologically sorted parties."
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/americas-polarization-has-nothing-to-do-with-ideology/
Groenendyk offers a new explanation for how partisans' antipathy toward the opposing party can coexist with growing frustration towards their own.
From a purely rational perspective, when our party disappoints us, we should reevaluate our support for that party, becoming independent or even joining the other side.
According to Groenendyk, we can resolve the tension between our party identifications and our frustration with our parties by increasing our antipathy toward our parties' opponents.
Using survey data over multiple election cycles, Groenendyk showed that decreasing fondness among partisans for their own parties was associated with growing hostility toward the opposition party.
If out-group hostility is more important to party identification than support for particular policies or ideologies, we may not actually place very many ideological demands on our parties.
According to Groenendyk: "If partisans' identities are increasingly anchored to hatred of the outparty than affection for their inparty, electoral dynamics are likely much more fluid than many accounts suggest. Thus, insurgent candidates with questionable ideological credentials may be more appealing than one might expect in the age of ideologically sorted parties."
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/americas-polarization-has-nothing-to-do-with-ideology/
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