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Activists and Conflict Extension in American Party Politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2010

GEOFFREY C. LAYMAN ,
THOMAS M. CARSEY ,
JOHN C. GREEN ,
RICHARD HERRERA  and
ROSALYN COOPERMAN
GEOFFREY C. LAYMAN*
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame
THOMAS M. CARSEY*
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
JOHN C. GREEN*
Affiliation:
University of Akron
RICHARD HERRERA*
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
ROSALYN COOPERMAN*
Affiliation:
University of Mary Washington
*
Geoffrey C. Layman is Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Notre Dame, 217 O'Shaughnessy Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556 ([email protected]).
Thomas M. Carsey is Pearsall Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 ([email protected]).
John C. Green is Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University of Akron, 223B Olin Hall, Akron, OH 44325 ([email protected]).
Richard Herrera is Associate Professor, School of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State University, Coor Hall, 6th Floor, Tempe, AZ 85287 ([email protected]).
Rosalyn Cooperman is Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and International Affairs, University of Mary Washington, 1301 College Avenue, Fredericksburg, VA 22401 ([email protected]).
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Abstract

Party activists have played a leading role in “conflict extension”—the polarization of the parties along multiple issue dimensions—in contemporary American politics. We argue that open nomination systems and the ambitious politicians competing within those systems encourage activists with extreme views on a variety of issue dimensions to become involved in party politics, thus motivating candidates to take noncentrist positions on a range of issues. Once that happens, continuing activists with strong partisan commitments bring their views into line with the new candidate agendas, thus extending the domain of interparty conflict. Using cross-sectional and panel surveys of national convention delegates, we find clear evidence for conflict extension among party activists, evidence tentatively suggesting a leading role for activists in partisan conflict extension more generally, and strong support for our argument about change among continuing activists. Issue conversion among activists has contributed substantially to conflict extension and party commitment has played a key role in motivating that conversion.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 104 , Issue 2 , May 2010 , pp. 324 - 346
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2010

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