Party Identification - measures a voter’s sense of psychological attachment to a political party.
In any given election, some voters who generally identify with one party may vote for a candidate from another party.
In 2012-2013:
32 percent of voters identified themselves with the Democratic Party
Has more women, minorities, and young members than the population at large.
Over-represented in the Northeast
Tends to have more supporters among people who live in cities and along both coasts.
34 percent of Democrats identified themselves as working class, and 50 percent identified themselves as middle class or upper middle class.
24 percent identified with the Republican Party
Tends to have more white, male, educated, and religious members than
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In the 1960s, Republicans began to win over conservative voters in the South. By the 1980s, most states in the Deep South voted Republican in presidential elections, with pockets of Democratic support in urban areas.
Political Party Polarization:
In recent years, Americans have become increasingly polarized - to divide into opposing groups.
Both parties have become more ideologically homogenous, meaning that party members and elected officials are more likely to agree on all points with the party platform and less likely to cross party lines on key issues.
The parties are also more dominated by people with strong ideological beliefs.
For example, in the Republican Party, there are twice as many conservatives as moderates.
As voters become more entrenched in their positions and more insistent that their elected officials toe the party line, the parties are more likely to nominate ideological, rather than centrist (a person whose views tend to be moderate), candidates.
States have redrawn district boundaries in ways that often protect incumbents, as well.
This means that seats are often “safely” Democratic or