How did Republicans manage to hold the White House through much of the second half of the 20th century even as the Democratic Party held the hearts of most American voters? The authors of this study argue that they did so by doing what Democrats have also excelled at: triggering psychological mechanisms that deepen cultural divisions in the other party's coalition, thereby leading many of its voters either to choose the opposing ticket or to stay home. This text offers a new perspective on America's changing political ...
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How did Republicans manage to hold the White House through much of the second half of the 20th century even as the Democratic Party held the hearts of most American voters? The authors of this study argue that they did so by doing what Democrats have also excelled at: triggering psychological mechanisms that deepen cultural divisions in the other party's coalition, thereby leading many of its voters either to choose the opposing ticket or to stay home. This text offers a new perspective on America's changing political order and political conflict in the post-New Deal period (1960-1996). David Leege, Kenneth Wald, Brian Krueger and Paul Mueller move beyond existing scholarship by formulating a theory of campaign strategies that emphasizes cultural conflict regarding patriotism, race, gender and religion. Drawing on National Election Studies data, they find that Republican politicians deployed powerful symbols to channel targeted voters toward the minority party. As partisanship approached parity in the 1990s, Democratic leaders proved as adept at deploying their own symbols, such as "a woman's right to choose", to disassemble the Republican coalition. A blend of theory and empirical
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