Affective Polarization and Ideological Sorting: A Reciprocal, Albeit Weak, Relationship
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Yphtach Lelkes
Abstract
American partisans are far more hostile towards out-party members than they were 40 years ago. While this phenomenon, often called affective polarization, is well-documented, political scientists disagree on its cause. One group of scholars believes that affective polarization is driven by processes related to social identity theory. In particular, cross-cutting identities have declined in America, and toxic political communication continuously primes partisan identities and resentment. Recently, several scholars have pointed to another phenomenon as the root cause of affective polarization: partisan sorting, i.e. the alignment of partisan identities with ideologically consistent issue positions. I review evidence in favor of each claim, and provide additional evidence that affective polarization has increased about as much among those who are not sorted as among those who are sorted. Furthermore, while sorting is only related to affective polarization among the most politically knowledgeable, affective polarization has increased across all levels of political knowledge. Finally, affective polarization may also increase sorting, further complicating any clear cut causal relationship.
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©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- The Group Theory of Parties: Identity Politics, Party Stereotypes, and Polarization in the 21st Century
- Partisanship as Social Identity; Implications for the Study of Party Polarization
- Losing Common Ground: Social Sorting and Polarization
- Affective Polarization and Ideological Sorting: A Reciprocal, Albeit Weak, Relationship
- Seeing Red (or Blue): How Party Identity Colors Political Cognition
- Who is Ideological? Measuring Ideological Consistency in the American Public
- The Dynamics of Voter Preferences in the 2016 Presidential Election
- Book reviews
- When Bad Policy Makes Good Politics
- Opting Out of Congress: Partisan Polarization the Decline of Moderate Candidates
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- The Group Theory of Parties: Identity Politics, Party Stereotypes, and Polarization in the 21st Century
- Partisanship as Social Identity; Implications for the Study of Party Polarization
- Losing Common Ground: Social Sorting and Polarization
- Affective Polarization and Ideological Sorting: A Reciprocal, Albeit Weak, Relationship
- Seeing Red (or Blue): How Party Identity Colors Political Cognition
- Who is Ideological? Measuring Ideological Consistency in the American Public
- The Dynamics of Voter Preferences in the 2016 Presidential Election
- Book reviews
- When Bad Policy Makes Good Politics
- Opting Out of Congress: Partisan Polarization the Decline of Moderate Candidates
