Partisanship and Preference Formation: Competing Motivations, Elite Polarization, and Issue Importance
Partisanship and Preference Formation: Competing Motivations, Elite Polarization, and Issue Importance
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党派之争和偏好形成：竞争动机、精英两极分化和问题重要性
DOI：
10.1007/s11109-015-9318-4
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发表时间：
2016
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
Kevin J. Mullinix
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kevin J. Mullinix
在政党两极分化的时代，一个持久且日益尖锐的担忧是，人们的党派依恋扭曲了偏好的形成，而牺牲了相关信息。例如，研究表明，民主党人可能会支持民主党提出的政策，但反对共和党提出的同一政策。然而，相关文献表明，人们对信息的反应和形成偏好的方式会被他们之前的问题态度所扭曲。在这两种情况下，信息都没有得到公正的评估，而是根据党派之争或现有的问题意见进行解释。这两种影响都被单独记录下来，但在大多数政治场景中，个人都会考虑党派偏见和先前的意见——然而，这些动态可能会也可能不会导致相同的偏好。通过针对税收和教育政策的全国代表性实验，我引入并测试了一种理论，该理论隔离了以下情况：党派之争主导偏好形成，党派之争和问题意见相互加强或抵消，问题态度胜过党派之争。调查结果清楚地表明，公众并没有盲目追随政党精英。根据精英职位、党派两极分化的程度以及问题的个人重要性，公众可以关注信息并规避政党精英的影响。研究结果对当代民主政治中的政党和公民能力具有广泛的影响。
An enduring and increasingly acute concern—in an age of polarized parties—is that people’s partisan attachments distort preference formation at the expense of relevant information. For example, research suggests that a Democrat may support a policy proposed by Democrats, but oppose the same policy if proposed by Republicans. However, a related body of literature suggests that how people respond to information and form preferences is distorted by their prior issue attitudes. In neither instance is information even-handedly evaluated, rather, it is interpreted in light of partisanship or existing issue opinions. Both effects are well documented in isolation, but in most political scenarios individuals consider both partisanship and prior opinions—yet, these dynamics may or may not pull toward the same preference. Using nationally representative experiments focused on tax and education policies, I introduce and test a theory that isolates when: partisanship dominates preference formation, partisanship and issue opinions reinforce or offset each other, and issue attitudes trump partisanship. The findings make clear that the public does not blindly follow party elites. Depending on elite positions, the level of partisan polarization, and personal importance of issues, the public can be attentive to information and shirk the influence of party elites. The results have broad implications for political parties and citizen competence in contemporary democratic politics.
影响因子：
7.6
作者：
Holbrook, AL;Berent, MK;Boninger, DS
通讯作者：
Boninger, DS