Political Awareness and Partisan Realignment: Are the Unaware Unevolved

In: Political research quarterly: PRQ ; official journal of the Western Political Science Association and other associations, Band 64, Heft 4, S. 818-830

Abstract

Many attribute the demise of the solid South, and changes in party attachments outside the South, to elite-level changes in the parties' positions on racial issues and an issue evolution of the party system. Support is also growing for the notion that, as the Republican Party became an acceptable alternative to the Democratic Party for racial issues in the South, a resurgence of class-based partisanship further fueled the exodus. By investigating whether political awareness mediates responsiveness to changes in the political environment, evidence that partisan evolution is concentrated among more aware citizens is uncovered, and the implications are examined. Adapted from the source document.