An Exploration of the Stability of Partisan Stereotypes in the United States

Abstract

In this paper I argue that party stereotypes are a manifestation of partisanship that can inform the current debate about the stability of partisan identity in the United States. I provide a theory for understanding the stability of partisanship using the self-categorization theory developed by John Turner and his colleagues. This provides firmer theoretical ground for the prevalent view that partisanship instability should follow partisan dealignment and realignments. Its most important contribution, however, is its prediction that partisanship instability can be traced to the character of the categories that the electoral environment makes available for stereotyping the parties. When the electoral environment makes available a set of partisan categories that are more heterogeneous in content, as is the case in the USA since the 1970s, greater partisanship instability is a natural result. I explore this hypothesis using the party likes/dislikes questions in American National Election Study (ANES) panel surveys. I find that the self-categorization theory of partisanship offers a good explanation for an evident decline in the stability of party stereotypes starting in the 1970s and a curious rise in US partisanship stability between 1992 and 1994.