In Defense of Ideology - Reexamining the Role of Ideology in the American Electorate

Years of collective political science research has fueled the stereotype of the uninformed or illogical American voter who ardently supports parties or candidates but lacks any cohesive ideological reasons for doing so. Prior works, however, do not tell the whole story nor fully capture the nature of public opinion in today's increasingly polarized political environment. Thus, this Element makes the case for more careful and nuanced assessments of ideological thinking in the American electorate. Using a variety of more contemporary survey and experimental data, it shows that a substantial portion of Americans do hold coherent political beliefs and that these beliefs have important consequences for the American political system. Though partisanship still plays a powerful role, the electorate as this Element presents it is much more ideological than the literature too often assumes.

List of contents

1. Reopening the Argument; 2. Another Look at Issue Attitudes; 3. The Use and Meaning of Ideological Labels; 4. The Importance of Ideology; 5. Not That Innocent.

Product details

• Authors: Elizabeth N. Simas, Elizabeth N. (University of Houston) Simas
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 11.05.2023
• EAN: 9781009228176
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0922817-6
• No. of pages: 75
• Series: Elements in Political Psychology
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; POLITICAL SCIENCE / American Government / General, Politics and government, North America (USA and Canada), Constitution: government & the state