Party Identification

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Introduction
How people reach their voting choice during an election is a culmination of various attitudes (Dalton, 2014:155). Determining the causes of these attitudes has become an important part of examining political behaviour (Campbell, Converse, Miller & Stokes, 1960). The following essay will discuss the influences on political behaviour by first examining how the funnel of causality determines voting choices. Thereafter, party identification and its defining features will be addressed. Finally, party dealignment and its affects will be outlined.
Funnel of casualty
Explanation
The “funnel of causality” is a heuristic model developed to illustrate how different factors influence voting behaviour (Campbell, 2006:3; Wilder, 2016:724). …show more content…

This plays a vital role in assuring the stability of the party system (Campbell et al., 1960:121). Party attachments are enduring and cannot easily be changed once established (Schulz-Herzenberg, 2009:29; Dalton, 2014:189) Partisans generally continue to vote for their preferred party; this repeated support strengthens party loyalty, which is why older generations tend to have stronger party ties (Dalton, 2014:189; Dalton, 2016:2). Party identification thus “stabilizes voting patterns for the individual and the party system” (Dalton, …show more content…

These cues are used as a “decisional short-cut” by voters to position themselves in the political world (Dalton, 2002:21). Many people have a limited understanding of the complicated issues their vote relates towards (Dalton, 2016:2). These “unsophisticated” voters use their party-loyalty as the main cue for voting (Dalton, 2014:193). Party identification is thus a “default value” used by voters instead of information about policies and candidates (Schulz, 2009:29). People with a broader understanding of politics also use their party affiliation as a voting shortcut because they agree with the fundamental policies of that party (Dalton,

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