Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
media influence on public opinion
media influence on public opinion
democrat v republican compare and contrast
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: media influence on public opinion
Party identification is the political party that an individual categorizes them self with. Political parties came about as a way to organize citizens with similar beliefs and attitudes. These parties then attempt to influence the government by electing members into office. Today there are two main parties people can identify: Republican and Democrat. There is also a third choice, being an Independent, but for the purpose of this paper this group will not be recognized as a political party. These reasons will be discussed later. There are many different theories as to why people do or do not identify with a political party, including social psychology, issue related, and psychological attachments. I believe the social psychology theory has the right idea. Sociology is about studying human society and how it develops and functions. So, it makes sense that social factors would have a big impact on whether we identify with a political party or not.
With my comment earlier about independent voters, there are a few reasons they shouldn't count as a political party for this paper. First, they have too many different views to find a common identity. Both Republicans and Democrats have a basic set of beliefs and attitudes that make them who they are. Independents are a mix of individuals that have different attitudes, beliefs, positions, etc,. There's no real common goal between Independents. Second, majority of Independents tend to be biased towards one party or the other. "When you narrow it down, look at actual voters, the turnout rate among independents is lower. When you look at actual voters and look at those who are truly uncommitted, you find that you’re down to less than 10 percent of the actual voters (Khan, 2012)....
... middle of paper ...
...tion. American Journal of Political Science, 970-988.
Oakes, P., Alexander, H., & John, T. (1994). Stereotyping and social reality. Blackwell Publishing.
Perez-Pena, R. (2013, July 25). College Enrollment Falls as Economy Recovers. Retrieved from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/education/in-a-recovering-economy-a-decline-in-college-enrollment.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Pratt, M. (1997). To be Or Not to Be?: Central Questions in Organizational Identification. Sage Publications.
Sides, J. (2014, January 8). Most political independents actually aren't. Retrieved from The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/01/08/most-political-independents-actually-arent/
Tajifel, H. a. (1986). The social identity theory of inter-group behavior. Psychology of Intergroup Relations. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/258189
Fairlie, Henry. The Parties: Republicans and Democrats in This Century. New York: The New Republic Magazine, 1978.
Rosenstone, Steven J., Roy L. Behr, and Edward H. Lazarus. Third Parties in America. 2nd ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996.
Millions of citizens around the United States, at some point in their lifetime, obtain a political ideology. Typically, their political values are influenced by their parents. Political scientists have identified that around age eleven, children begin to develop political opinion. According to Wilson’s, American Government: Institutions and Policies, 91% of a high school senior class indentified with the same party as their parents (American Government 158). I can attest to this since I in fact have the same party association as my parents. Ever since I was young, I categorized myself as a Democrat due to the fact that my elders were. However, as I have matured I am able to recognize the beliefs and ideologies that followers of certain parties possess. Since I have been more exposed to the political arena I am able analyze the issues more critically and hence I continuously question whether I should classify myself as a Democrat or Republican.
Political ideology holds an important place when determining what to consider yourself as. The Republican Party holds a vision that is established on American traditions of family, community, and
TerBeek, Calvin. “’Swing’ voters are still partisan.” Chicago Turbine. N.p., 20 Nov. 2013. Web. 8 Dec. 2013. .
"Political Parties | Scholastic.com." Teaching Resources, Children's Book Recommendations, and Student Activities | Scholastic.com. Web. 18 Aug. 2011. .
Today, political parties can be seen throughout everyday life, prevalent in various activities such as watching television, or seeing signs beside the road while driving. These everyday occurrences make the knowledge of political parties commonly known, especially as the two opposing political parties: the Republicans and the Democrats. Republican and Democrats have existed for numerous years, predominantly due to pure tradition, and the comfort of the ideas each party presents. For years, the existence of two political parties has dominated the elections of the president, and lower offices such as mayor, or the House of Representatives. Fundamentally, this tradition continues from the very emergence of political parties during the election of 1796, principally between Federalist John Adams and Anti-federalist Thomas Jefferson. Prior to this election people unanimously conformed to the ideas of one man, George Washington, and therefore did not require the need for political parties.1 However, following his presidency the public was divided with opposing opinions, each arguing the best methods to regulate the country. Ultimately, the emergence of different opinions regarding the future of the United States involving the economy, foreign relations, ‘the masses,’ and the interpretation of the Constitution, led to the two political parties of the 1790s and the critical election of 1800.
According to scholars, many moderates in the public ‘lean’ toward either the Democratic or Republican camp, which complicates the polarization trends (a); they often outnumber partisans of the party towards which they ‘lean’ (Smith). While the public remains consistently moderate, Congress consistently loses its moderates as they retire, and more radical congressmen and women secure their places (Fiorina 5). Fiorina hardly considers independents or moderates in this essay; this mistake overlooks their ‘swing vote’ in many major elections for both Congress and the executive branch (Enns and Schmidt). But, Hill and Tausanovitch note that while tracking Congressional polarization may be easy, public polarization is more difficult. So, accounting for the 'swing vote' becomes difficult because accounting for public polarization at all is a daunting task (1068). The claim that diversity in moderates has been decreasing (Hill and Tausanovitch 1073) disagrees with recent polls; many moderates disagree with the extremist views of the right and left, rather they often fall somewhere in the middle on many key issues (Ball). Moderates in the public do not follow polarization or sorting as some scholars explain; they do not belong any party, but vote depending on the issues and can often decide the winner of major
Campbell et al., use survey data. In terms of methods, the model uses longitudinal data from the years 1948, 1952, 1956, while analyzing numerous interviews with the voters themselves (which constitute the American National Election Study, otherwise known as ANES). Based on how respondents answer, the Michigan Model groups individuals based on party identification and partisan preferences. The Michigan Model puts an emphasis on party identification as a psychological attachment, in that it’s created through the socialization of one’s parents. For those with a sense of attachment the strength, and direction of their party identification are crucial in accounting for attitude and behavior (Campbell et al., 1960). “The political party serves as the group, or base, for which the individual develops either a positive or negative identification with some degree of intensity (Campbell et al., 1960, pg. 122)”. This study’s main concern focused not on which way one tends to vote, but rather the influence of party identification on the vote. Party identification leads to one’s partisan feelings and attitudes, not the other way around, and tends to cause individuals to focus, see, and listen to information that is favorable to their party identification (also known as selective perception). Overtime, the Michigan Model claims that although party identification can fluctuate, it remains stable over time, and that issues and policies only play a small role in the voters’ decision (Campbell et al., 1960). The American Voter emphasizes that for a policy decision to affect the vote, the voter must at least have some knowledge in the issue or perceive a difference in the candidates. This study, however, was met with heavy resistance over the next few years, and still today, scholars nit-pick at specific areas of the study by crafting their own
Party is an inevitable feature of the democracy and it is defined as ‘an autonomous group of citizens having the purpose of making nominations and contesting elections in the hope of gaining control over governmental power through the capture of public offices and the organization of the government’ (Caramani, 2011, p.220). Parties are ubiquitous in modern political systems and they perform a number of functions, they are: coordination, contesting elections, recruitment, and representation (Caramani, 2011). Political parties are the product of the parliamentary and electoral game, and party systems reflect the social oppositions that characterize society when parties first appear (Coxall et al., 2011).
Sometimes who lacks a strong affiliation with a particular political party is called a swing voter. The voter’s behavior is not easy to predict in an election. Party lines may be cross by the voter. Many political parties or campaign try to win the heads and minds of swing voters, and make a hope to win the election. Swing voters play a vital role in election. Sometimes it is because so confusing for political campaigns because swing voters are undecided voters, and it is a fact that swing voters are really undecided voters. A voter who is ensuring about how they plan to vote in the election are undecided voters. There are many voters who do not have established their own personal political philosophy, and they are new
Choosing a political party is an important decision to make in today’s American society. The options for the political parties are Democrat, Republican, and Independent. Picking a political party can happen for some people at a young age. I chose my political party when I was 16 years old. I chose Independent. My parents are Democrats themselves. It makes for an interesting discussion at the dinner table when talking about politics. Some people will choose their political party for a few different reasons. Some people will choose their political party just to be the same thing as their parents, because they really believe in what either party is saying, and sometimes people feel pressured to do so.
Political parties are the link between general society and the representative machinery of our government. In order for an effective democracy to be in place, these political parties must be continually operative in the functions that they carry out. They are vehicles in which groups of people as well as individuals work together to secure political power, and to exercise that...
Whether one is part of a group – specifically a party – or not, both have important implications. First being a member of a party indicates the relationship between one’s policy preferences and partisanship. Second, deciding not to be a part of group indicates a strong exposition of as to why one chooses to do so. These will be discussed in this paper.
Burke, P.J. & Stets, J.E. (2000). Identity Theory and Social Identity Theory. Social Psychology Quarterly 63(3), 224-237