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Ideological Realignment in the American Electorate: A Comparison of Northern and Southern White Voters in the Pre‐Reagan, Reagan, and Post‐Reagan Eras
Author(s) -
Abramowitz Alan I.,
Knotts H. Gibbs
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
politics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.259
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1747-1346
pISSN - 1555-5623
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-1346.2006.00005.x
Subject(s) - ideology , white (mutation) , political science , reagan administration , democracy , political economy , public administration , politics , economic history , law , sociology , history , biochemistry , chemistry , gene
This article builds on the work of Abramowitz and Saunders (1998) by exploring the ideological realignment theory among northern and southern whites in the pre‐Reagan, Reagan, and post‐Reagan eras. Our findings indicate that among conservative southern whites there has been a steady movement toward the Republican Party during the last three decades. For other groups, Republican gains have been largely limited to the Reagan era. Overall, these results suggest that voters in the North and South are responding to the increasing southern influence on the Republican Party and the decreasing southern influence on the Democratic Party.