Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T09:21:02.941Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Partisan and Ideological Polarization in the California Electorate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Gary C. Jacobson
Gary C. Jacobson*
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The textbook image of the California electorate as unusually independent, moderate, antipartisan, and prone to ticket splitting is badly out of date. As in Washington, DC, increased partisan polarization in California's state government reflects increased partisan polarization in the electorate. This study shows that, compared to other American voters, Californians are stronger party identifiers, more loyal to their parties' candidates, less likely to split their tickets, and more extreme ideologically. Moreover, the California electorate, like the national electorate, has become increasingly partisan, loyal, consistent, and prone to ideological extremity since the 1970s. These developments, combined with legislative district lines that have given the parties more politically distinct constituencies, have echoed and reinforced the increasingly polarized partisan divisions in California state government, just as they have at the national level.

Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , Summer 2004 , pp. 113 - 139
Copyright
Copyright © Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aldrich, John H. 1995. Why Parties? The Origin and Transformation of Party Politics in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ansolabehere, Stephen, Behr, Roy, and Iyengar, Shanto. 1991. “Mass Media and Elections: An Overview.” American Politics Quarterly 19:109–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartels, Larry. 2000. “Partisanship and Voting Behavior, 1952-1996.” American Journal of Political Science 44: 35–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berke, Richard L. 2000. “A Race in Which Candidates Clung to the Center.” New York Times on the Web (November 7). http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/07/politics/07ELEC.html.Google Scholar
Black, Earle, and Black, Merle. 1987. Politics and Society in the South. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Cahn, Matthew Alan, Eric Schockman, H., and Shafie, David M.. 2001. Rethinking California: Politics & Policy in the Golden State. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Cain, Bruce E. 1984. The Reapportionment Puzzle. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Collet, Chris. 1993. “Bye-bye, GOP. Ta-ta, Dems.: Californians Flee Traditional Parties.” California Journal, November, 33-6.Google Scholar
DeBow, Ken, and Syer, John C.. 2000. Power and Politics in California. 6th ed. New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Donovan, Todd, Bowler, Shaun, and Terrio, Tammy. 2000. “Support for Third Parties in California.” American Politics Quarterly 28:50–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Erikson, Robert S., Wright, Gerald C., and McIver, John P.. 1993. Statehouse Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Field Institute. 1999. “Political Parties and the Party System.” California Opinion Index, April, 1-5.Google Scholar
Fleisher, Richard. 2001. “Increasing Partisan Polarization among Ordinary Citizens.” In American Political Parties: Decline or Resurgence? eds. Cohen, Jeffrey, Fleisher, Richard, and Kantor, Paul. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.Google Scholar
Frymer, Paul. 1995. “The 1994 Aftershock: Dealignment or Realignment in the South.” In Midterm: The Elections of 1994 in Context, ed. Klinkner, Philip A.. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Groseclose, Tim, Levitt, Steven D., and Snyder, James M. Jr. 1999. “Comparing Interest Group Scores across Time and Chambers: Adjusted ADA Scores for the U.S. Congress.” American Political Science Review 93:33–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guidoux, Elaine. 1988. “Who's Conservative? Who's Liberal?” California Journal, June, 241-5.Google Scholar
Hacker, Andrew. 1991. “Who's Left—Who's Right.” California Journal, March, 138-40.Google Scholar
Hess, Stephen. 1991. Live from Capitol Hill: Studies of Congress and the Media. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Hood, M.V. III, Kidd, Quentin, and Morris, Irwin L.. 1999. “Of Byrd[s] and Bumpers: Using Democratic Senators to Analyze Political Change in the South, 1960-1995.” American Journal of Political Science 43:465–87.Google Scholar
Hyink, Bernard L., and Provost, David H.. 1998. Politics and Government in California. 14th ed. New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Jacobson, Gary C. 1998. “The Declining Salience of U.S. House Candidates, 1958-1994.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, MA.Google Scholar
Jacobson, Gary C. 2000a. “Public Opinion and the Impeachment of Bill Clinton.” In British Elections and Parties Review, Vol. 10, eds. Philip Cowley, David Denver, Andrew Russell, and Lisa Harrison. London: Frank Cass.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobson, Gary C. 2000b. “Party Polarization in National Politics: The Electoral Connection.” In Polarized Politics: Congress and the President in a Partisan Era, eds. Bond, Jon R. and Fleisher, Richard. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.Google Scholar
Jacobson, Gary C. 2000c. “The Electoral Basis of Partisan Polarization in Congress.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Jacobson, Gary C. 2001. “A House and Senate Divided: The Clinton Legacy and the Congressional Elections of 2000.” Political Science Quarterly 116:5–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobson, Gary C. 2002. “Partisanship in California Elections.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Western Political Science Association, Long Beach, CA.Google Scholar
Jacobson, Gary C. 2003a. “Partisan Polarization in Presidential Support: The Electoral Connection.” Congress and the Presidency 30:1–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobson, Gary C. 2003b. “Terror, Terrain, and Turnout: Explaining the 2002 Midterm Elections.” Political Science Quarterly 118:1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobson, Gary C. 2004. “All Quiet on the Western Front: Redistricting and Party Competition in California House Elections.” In Redistricting in the New Millennium, ed. Galderisi, Peter. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Jewell, Malcolm E. 1962. The State Legislature. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Keith, Bruce E., Magleby, David B., Nelson, Candice J., Elizabeth, Orr, Westlye, Mark C., and Wolfinger, Raymond E.. 1992. The Myth of the Independent Voter. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Kousser, Morgan. 1998. “Reapportionment Wars: Party, Race, and Redistricting in California, 1971-1992.” In Race and Redistricting in the 1990s, ed. Grofman, Bernard. New York: Agathon Press.Google Scholar
Ladd, Everett Carl. 1995. “The 1994 Congressional Elections: The Realignment Continues.” Political Science Quarterly 110:1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ladd, Everett Carl. 1997. “1996 Vote: The ‘No Majority’ Realignment Continues.” Political Science Quarterly 112:1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LeBlanc, Hugh L. 1969. “Voting in State Senates: Party and Constituency Influences.” Midwest Journal of Political Science 13:33–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowi, Theodore J. 2001. “Political Parties and the Future State of the Union.” In American Political Parties: Decline or Resurgence? eds. Cohen, Jeffrey E., Fleisher, Richard, and Kantor, Paul. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.Google Scholar
Margolis, Andrea, and Zieger, Richard. 1987. “Bleeding Hearts, Stone Hearts.” California Journal, January, 30-3.Google Scholar
McCarty, Nolan M., Poole, Keith T., and Rosenthal, Howard. 1997. Income Redistribution and the Realignment of American Politics. Washington, DC: The AEI Press.Google Scholar
Mayhew, David R. 1974. Congress: The Electoral Connection. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Nadeau, Richard, and Stanley, Harold W.. 1993. “Class Polarization among Native Southern Whites, 1952-90.” American Journal of Political Science 37: 900–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owens, John R., Constantini, Edmond, and Weschler, Louis F.. 1970. California Politics and Parties. London: The MacMillan Company.Google Scholar
Peterson, Larry. 1985. “The Likeable ‘Caveman’.” California Journal, May, 207-9.Google Scholar
Poole, Keith T., and Rosenthal, Howard. 1984. “The Polarization of American Politics.” Journal of Politics 46:1061–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poole, Keith T., and Rosenthal, Howard. 1997. Congress: A Political-Economic History of Roll Call Voting. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rohde, David W. 1991. Parties and Leaders in the Postreform House. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robeck, Bruce W. 1978. Legislators and Party Loyalty: The Impact of Reapportionment in California. Washington, DC: University Press of America.Google Scholar
Sapiro, Virginia, Rosenstone, Steven J., and the National Election Studies. 2001. 1948-2000 Cumulative Data File [dataset]. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, Center for Political Studies [producer and distributor].Google Scholar
Scott, Steve. 1999. “The No-Party System.” California Journal, December, 10-5.Google Scholar
Secretary of State of California. Various dates. Report of Registration. Sacramento, CA: State of California.Google Scholar
Secretary of State of California. Various dates. Statement of the Vote. Sacramento, CA: State of California.Google Scholar
Secretary of State of California. Various dates. Supplement to Statement of the Vote. Sacramento, CA: State of California.Google Scholar
Shea, Daniel M. 1999. “The Passing of Realignment and the ‘Base-Less’ Party System.” American Politics Quarterly 27:33–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sinclair, Barbara. 2000. “Hostile Partners: The President, Congress, and Lawmaking in the Partisan 1990s.” In Polarized Politics: Congress and the President in a Partisan Era, eds. Bond, Jon R. and Fleisher, Richard. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.Google Scholar
Wattenberg, Martin P. 1996. The Decline of American Party Politics, 1952-1994. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
White, John Kenneth, and Shea, Daniel M.. 2000. New Party Politics: From Jefferson and Hamilton to the Information Age. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins.Google Scholar
Wilkie, Dana. 1997 “Political Odd Couple.” California Journal, August, 41.Google Scholar