Dunn, K orcid.org/0000-0002-2156-6930 and Thornton, JR (2018) Vote Intent and Beliefs about Democracy in the United States. Party Politics, 24 (4). pp. 455-466. ISSN 1354-0688
Abstract
Democracy is abstract and murky concept. This is particularly apparent in the wide variety of beliefs about democracy held by publics around the globe. Within democracies, political parties often define and name themselves by reference to a particular understanding of democracy. This paper focuses on this partisan division in understanding democracy. We suggest that parties will attract those who share similar beliefs about democracy. Specifically, we look at whether differences in beliefs about democracy predict party support in the United States. Examining the responses of U.S. participants to the fifth wave of the World Values Survey, we find that differences on a number of “essential” aspects of democracy among individuals predict vote intent (and party identification). Those more likely to understand democracy as a form of government that promotes civil liberties and the redistribution of wealth to protect the vulnerable are more likely to vote Democrat. Those who report stronger associations between democracy and both religious interpretation of laws and severe punishment of criminals are more likely to vote Republican. This research reinforces the idea that policy differences between the two main parties in the United States may derive from different understandings of the role of government in society.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 The Author(s). This is an author accepted version of a paper accepted for publication in Party Politics. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | democracy beliefs; political ideology; US politics; vote intent |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Politics & International Studies (POLIS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 17 Aug 2016 09:14 |
Last Modified: | 13 Jul 2018 13:58 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/1354068816668677 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:103729 |