Browsing by Subject "partisanship"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Rise of Partisan Rigidity: The Nature and Origins of Partisan Extremism in American Politics
    (2016-01) Luttig, Matthew
    As political elites have polarized, the American public has become more strongly partisan. Why has the American public become more extremely partisan, and what does this transformation of the electorate imply for the health of American democracy? In this thesis, I argue that elite polarization has strengthened the relationship between a basic psychological motivation for group membership—the need for certainty—and partisan strength, in-party favoritism, out-party derogation, and conformity to group leaders. Because the need for certainty is a form of motivated closed-mindedness, I argue that the American electorate today is increasingly composed of rigid partisans: partisans who are uncritically extremist, biased, and intolerant. Across a number of distinct empirical studies, this thesis demonstrates that, (1) partisan strength, in-group favoritism, out-group derogation and partisan sorting have a strong basis in the psychological need for certainty, (2) in many cases this pre-political psychological variable has larger effects on partisan strength than explicitly political variables such as policy preferences, (3) that this effect occurs among both Democrats and Republicans, (4) that this has caused politically engaged respondents in particular to be rigid in their partisan identity, and (5) that this relationship has grown stronger over time as political elites have polarized and become more internally cohesive and distinct. In conclusion, I argue that the transformation of the public into rigid partisans weakens the competence of the American electorate and threatens the foundations of American democracy.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Student Partisan Identity and Online Discussions
    (2017-06) Clark, Christopher
    Political division in the United States is the subject of much analysis in the fields of political science and psychology. While political partisanship looms large over discussions of the national political climate’s influence on schools and classrooms, very little work exists that directly examines the effects of high school students’ political beliefs. Prior research on adults indicates that political partisans are different from their non-partisan counterparts in terms of political knowledge and efficacy. Further, studies often detect biases in adults’ processing of political information. Although social studies scholars are beginning to address issues of political division, researchers have yet to directly examine how partisanship influences students’ perceptions, behaviors, opinions, and learning. The study described in this dissertation attempts to address this gap. The present research is built around an online discussion of a controversial issue. Using data from three surveys, a discussion forum, and student interviews, I examine differences between partisans and non-partisans prior to the discussion, differences in behaviors these two groups exhibit during a discussion, differences in outcomes following a discussion, and differences in partisan and non-partisans’ ability to consider arguments. The findings of this study generally support the argument that, similar to adults, adolescent partisans are substantially different from non-partisans in terms of their political perceptions, behavior, and cognition. There are, however, important contextual factors, such as having an open classroom climate and composition of the discussion groups, which can alter the impacts of students’ partisan identities.