How Elite Partisan Polarization Affects Public Opinion Formation

• Published in: The American political science review Vol. 107; no. 1; pp. 57 - 79
• Main Authors: DRUCKMAN, JAMES N., PETERSON, ERIK, SLOTHUUS, RUNE
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.02.2013
• Subjects: Casinos; Citizens; Competition; Control groups; Decision making; Democracy; Drilling; Endorsements; Experiments; Freedom of speech; Hypotheses; Motivation; Normativity; Partisanship; Polarization; Political activism; Political attitudes; Political debate; Political Parties; Political partisanship; Political science; Public Opinion; Public safety; Reasoning; Social Science Research; Speech; Trust; Undergraduate Study

Competition is a defining element of democracy. One of the most noteworthy events over the last quarter-century in U.S. politics is the change in the nature of elite party competition: The parties have become increasingly polarized. Scholars and pundits actively debate how these elite patterns influ...