Title
Ideological Polarization in a Decentralized Party System: Explaining Interstate Differences
Abstract
During the past decade scholars have noted growing ideological polarization between Democratic and Republican Party elites in the United States. This trend has occurred in a party system traditionally characterized as decentralized. This paper examines whether the trend towards partisan polarization noted by scholars at the national level has affected state party systems in similar ways. Are some state party systems more polarized than others? The paper uses a classification scheme of state party systems developed by David Mayhew to try to explain interstate differences in partisan polarization. The paper concludes that states with political environments that supported pragmatic and non-ideological traditional party organizations are less polarized in the modern era than states without such environments.
Department(s)
Political Science
Document Type
Article
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2010.01.014
Publication Date
9-1-2010
Recommended Citation
Paddock, Joel. "Ideological Polarization in a Decentralized Party System: Explaining Interstate Differences." The Social Science Journal 47, no. 3 (2010): 710-722.
Journal Title
Social Science Journal
