Pacific Standard March-April 2013 Cover

Our Political Parties Have Polarized, But They Have a Lot Further to Go

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Last week, I wrote up a post describing how the parties in Congress have polarized in part because they represent more ideologically distinct districts and states than they used to. I produced a chart showing how the states themselves are polarizing; to the extent senators are simply representing their states today, that would lead to much more partisan behavior than it would have a few decades ago. Here's the same sort of chart showing the presidential vote by congressional district. It's a similar story. The red columns show the number of congressional districts in the 1968 presidential ... Read More

Liberal Homeowners Use Less Electricity

It’s easy to preach about the importance of energy conservation. But are people in the left really willing to sacrifice personal comfort in the name of environmental protection? Newly published research focusing on electricity usage suggests the answer is yes. Two UCLA economists report that, in the area served by an unnamed utility in the Western United States, households headed by registered Democrats use less electricity than those headed by registered Republicans. This holds true after factoring in variables such as climate, the price of electricity, and the size and age of the ... Read More

How Much Does Ideology Matter in Elections?

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Just how much does ideology matter in an election? In a recent article in Commentary, Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner argue that it matters a lot, to the point where it cost Mitt Romney the presidency: By all rights, Barack Obama should have lost the 2012 election. The economy during his first term in office was weak from beginning to end. Growth was anemic when not utterly static, unemployment was persistently high, and, as recently as last year, an overwhelming majority of Americans still believed we were in a recession. The signature legislative achievements of the president’s first ... Read More

Why Conservatives Prefer Walmart to Trader Joe’s

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The cliché that liberals shop at Trader Joe’s, while conservatives prefer Walmart, is no doubt overstated. But where would the perception come from? Newly published research provides a compelling answer: brand-name products. Conservatives gravitate toward them, and Walmart, unlike Trader Joe’s, is packed with them. That provocative conclusion can be drawn from a study in the journal Psychological Science. A research team led by Vishal Singh of New York University’s Stern School of Business has discovered a relationship between voting behavior, high levels of religiosity, and ... Read More

On Moral Values, Liberals More Prone to Stereotype Than Conservatives

A protester Santa Barbara, California in 2007 (PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK)

Those conservatives are appalling: They couldn’t care less if people get hurt. And liberals? They think anything goes, and have no concept of the meaning of loyalty. Caricatures? Absolutely. But such stereotypes are widely held among Americans, newly published research confirms, with liberals particularly clueless about the concerns of conservatives. Regarding issues of morality, “people overestimate how dramatically liberals and conservatives differ,” psychologists Jesse Graham, Brian Nosek and Jonathan Haidt write in the online journal PLoS One. Specifically, their research ... Read More

America’s Increasingly Tribal Electorate

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As another bitterly fought, closely contested presidential campaign comes to an end, the American electorate appears hopelessly conflicted. Even as we plead for compromise and bipartisanship in Washington, we increasingly split into two mutually antagonistic camps. This apparent contradiction has led puzzled academics to different conclusions: Some insist the public is becoming strongly polarized, while others believe the phenomenon is largely limited to the political and media elite. Political scientist Lilliana Mason’s analysis is more subtle, and more disturbing. Her research ... Read More

A Simple Way to Get Conservatives to Support Higher Taxes on the Rich

It is a fundamental fault line of contemporary American politics: Republicans adamantly oppose higher taxes on the wealthy, while Democrats consider such taxes a moral and fiscal imperative. This disagreement plays a central role in the election campaign, and it threatens to derail any deal to cut the deficit. But conservative opinion on this issue may be more malleable than anyone realizes. Newly published research suggests that, for those on the right, support for this specific form of wealth redistribution depends on how the issue is framed. Writing in the journal Psychological ... Read More

Social Networks Degrade Political Thinking

Plenty of research suggests having a strong, supportive social network has a positive impact on one’s health and well-being. But with an election approaching, it’s worth noting that this sort of interconnectedness apparently has a dark side. It seems to make us less-sophisticated thinkers, at least in the realm of politics and policy. That’s the conclusion of a study recently published in the journal Political Psychology. Researchers Elif Erisen and Cengiz Erisen conclude close-knit networks of friends and acquaintances apparently create “social bubbles,” which can limit “how ... Read More

How to Raise a Little Liberal (or Conservative)

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Parents: Do you find yourselves arguing with your adult children over who deserves to win the upcoming election? Does it confuse and frustrate you to realize your political viewpoints are so different? Newly published research suggests you may only have yourself to blame. Providing the best evidence yet to back up a decades-old theory, researchers writing in the journal Psychological Science report a link between a mother’s attitude toward parenting and the political ideology her child eventually adopts. In short, authoritarian parents are more prone to produce conservatives, while ... Read More

Why You’re Voting That Way

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As the election campaign heats up and attitudes harden, it’s worth remembering that our deeply held political beliefs—the ones that seem so self-evidently true—are a somewhat malleable, largely accidental product of our genetic makeup and early life experiences. Researchers are far from certain why one person becomes a liberal and another a conservative, but they have come up with some intriguing findings. For more Graphic Content, click here. ... Read More