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Party Polarization in the Post WWII Era: A Two Period Electoral Interpretation
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Party Polarization in the Post WWII Era:
A Two Period Electoral Interpretation
David W. Brady
Hahrie Han
Stanford University
Doug McAdam
Stanford University and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
This paper is prepared for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Political Science
Association on August 28, 2003 in Philadelphia, PA.
ABSTRACT: This paper examines Congressional party polarization in the post-WWII era. Instead of looking only at the post-1970s rise in polarization, we begin with the 1950s and argue that the immediate post-WWII era was an unusual period of partisan convergence in American history. We argue that the rise of the personal vote insulated members of Congress from national partisan tides in the 1960s and caused a lag in the return to Congressional polarization. We add to existing explanations of polarization by examining the role of electoral replacement in bringing member ideology back into line with the preferences of their districts and parties. We draw primarily on historical elections data, as well as National Elections Studies data on electorate opinion, and DW-Nominate scores as measures of member ideology.
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| | Authors: Brady, David., Han, Hahrie. and McAdam, Doug. |
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1
Party Polarization in the Post WWII Era:
A Two Period Electoral Interpretation
David W. Brady
Hahrie Han
Stanford University
Doug McAdam
Stanford University and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
This paper is prepared for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Political Science
Association on August 28, 2003 in Philadelphia, PA.
ABSTRACT: This paper examines Congressional party polarization in the post-WWII era. Instead of
looking only at the post-1970s rise in polarization, we begin with the 1950s and argue that the immediate
post-WWII era was an unusual period of partisan convergence in American history. We argue that the
rise of the personal vote insulated members of Congress from national partisan tides in the 1960s and
caused a lag in the return to Congressional polarization. We add to existing explanations of polarization
by examining the role of electoral replacement in bringing member ideology back into line with the
preferences of their districts and parties. We draw primarily on historical elections data, as well as
National Elections Studies data on electorate opinion, and DW-Nominate scores as measures of member
ideology.
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