Should we regret the erosion of partisan loyalties? Partisanship and the ethics of voting

Abstract

People who value political parties are often worried about the decline of partisanship, understood as the sustained commitment by citizens to a political party. From a normative perspective, however, one does not imply the other, and the reasons to value parties seem stronger than the reasons to value partisanship. Although there is value in the joint and sustained commitment to a political cause, partisans are less likely than other citizens to adopt a critical attitude toward their party in case of betrayal of its basic principles, and they are less likely to see the truth in the opponents’ arguments. For a well-functioning democracy, it seems important to have citizens who are politically committed yet open-minded, capable of revising their political views, and willing to sanction their preferred party at the ballot box. And while partisan commitment certainly does not impede this, it is often in tension with the ethics of voting.