The Partisan Sort: How Liberals Became Democrats and Conservatives Became Republicans

by Matthew Levendusky

Overview

As Washington elites drifted toward ideological poles over the past few decades, did ordinary Americans follow their lead? In The Partisan Sort, Matthew Levendusky reveals that we have responded to this trend—but not, for the most part, by becoming more extreme ourselves. While polarization has filtered down to a small minority of voters, it also has had the more significant effect of reconfiguring the way we sort ourselves into political parties.

In a marked realignment since the 1970s—when partisan affiliation did not depend on ideology and both major parties had strong liberal and conservative factions—liberals today overwhelmingly identify with Democrats, as conservatives do with Republicans. This “sorting,” Levendusky contends, results directly from the increasingly polarized terms in which political leaders define their parties. Exploring its far-reaching implications for the American political landscape, he demonstrates that sorting makes voters more loyally partisan, allowing campaigns to focus more attention on mobilizing committed supporters. Ultimately, Levendusky concludes, this new link between party and ideology represents a sea change in American politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226473659
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	12/15/2009
Series:	Chicago Studies in American Politics
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Matthew Levendusky is assistant professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

List of figures

List of tables

Acknowledgements

CHAPTER 1. The Transformation of the American Electorate

CHAPTER 2. Why Voters Sort

CHAPTER 3. Have Voters Sorted?

CHAPTER 4. Testing Competing Explanations for Sorting

CHAPTER 6. How Voters Sort

CHAPTER 7. The Impact of the Sorted

Appendix Data Used

Notes

Bibliography

Index