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The Obama Trigger: Presidential Approval and Tea Party Membership
Author(s) -
Maxwell Angie,
Parent T. Wayne
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
social science quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.482
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1540-6237
pISSN - 0038-4941
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-6237.2012.00907.x
Subject(s) - presidential system , tea party , opposition (politics) , ideology , polling , political science , logit , demographics , sample (material) , public administration , politics , economics , law , sociology , demography , econometrics , computer science , chemistry , chromatography , operating system
Objective This article utilizes national polling data to identify factors driving Tea Party membership. Methods First, in order to clearly define the Tea Party movement, the researchers will report Tea Party demographics drawn from the Blair‐Rockefeller Poll, which includes a national sample of 3,406 respondents. Second, the researchers will create a logit model to predict Tea Party membership. Results In addition to party identification and ideology, Tea Party membership (10.6 percent of the sample) is impacted both by fiscally conservative policy preferences and by presidential approval. To a lesser degree, age and a belief in biblical literalism are also significant indicators in the model. Conclusions The Tea Party is a distinct entity from the Republican Party and is triggered, not only by current economic attitudes, but, specifically, by opposition to President Obama.