III. Political Party Identification

  1. Definition: a psychological attachment to a political party.

  2. The Distribution of All Party Identifiers from 1976 to 1993
    1. The combined total of Democrats and Republicans far exceed the number of Independents.
    2. The percentage of Democrats normally exceeds the percentage of Republicans.
    3. There has been a gradual decline in the percentage of Democrats and Independents over the last 20 years.
    4. The percentage of Republicans has increased during the last 20 years.
    5. The percentage of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents have become nearly equal over the past 20 years.


        6. [click on small graph to see a larger version of the graph]

      1. The Distribution of Party Identification Among Young Voters, 1976 to 1993

        1. Independents are the largest group among young voters.
        2. For most of the period the proportion of Democrats was greater than the proportion of Republicans.
        3. From the mid 1980s to 1990, the percentage of Republicans among young voters exceed the percentage of Independents and the percentage of Democrats.
        4. By the mid 1990s, Independents are the largest single group in the electorate among younger voters
        5. The proportion of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents have become nearly equal.


      2. The Distribution of Party Identifiers in California


      3. The Characteristics of Party Identifiers in the United States

      1. Since 1932, socioeconomic factors (i.e., income, education, occupation) have distinguished Democrats and Republicans.
      Democrats Republicans
      Income lower to moderate moderate to high
      Education high school grad or less;
      post graduate degree      		 some college;
      collge degree
      Occupation blue collar union members; managerial and clerical


      2. Since the 1980s cultural factors (e.g., gender, race, etc.) have had more of an effect on party preference than socioeconomic factors.





      IV. American Voting Behavior

      A. Party Loyality: Most voters choose candidates consistent with their party identification




      B. Evaluations of the voter's financial well being has a great influence on voting behavior