Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Group Connections and Mass Partisanship

这项研究评估了一个关于党派死灰复燃原因的关键问题：这种现象是由高度复杂的意识形态还是更强烈的党派团体中心主义驱动的？回答这个问题对于理解党派之争如何影响公众建设性地参与民主政治的能力至关重要。这个项目发展了一项调查实验，以裁决在选民的代表性样本上的大规模党派之争的复苏的相互竞争的解释。智力优势：该项目的理论表明，两极分化使党派关系更有能力为群体成员提供核心心理利益，例如减少不确定性。这一理论的一个暗示是，强烈的心理动机认同社会群体应该增加党派的强度。这项研究将直接评估关于党派复兴的基础（心理或意识形态）的竞争论点。它通过具体说明党派强度升高的心理基础，推进了两极分化的文献。该项目还为人格对政治评价的影响提供了一个新的视角。本项目通过对党派关系和党派力量的人格基础的评价，将人格与政治的研究拓展到一个新的富有成效的方向。更广泛的影响：这项研究解决了关于民主公民质量的关键问题，以及两极分化是否有助于或破坏政治决策的质量。通过评估公众与政党密切联系的原因，本研究将评估政策行动是如何由代表性问题驱动的。

This study evaluates a critical question about the causes of partisan resurgence: Is this phenomenon driven by heightened ideological sophistication or more intense partisan group-centrism? Answering this question is crucial for understanding how partisanship affects the ability of the public to constructively participate in democratic politics. This project develops a survey experiment to adjudicate between competing explanations of the resurgence in mass partisanship on a representative sample of the electorate.Intellectual Merit: The project's theory suggests that polarization has made partisanship more capable of providing core psychological benefits, such as uncertainty reduction, to group members. An implication of this theory is that strong psychological motivations to identify with social groups should increase partisan intensity. The study will directly evaluate competing arguments about the underpinnings (psychological or ideological) of partisan resurgence. It advances the polarization literature by specifying the psychological underpinnings of heightened partisan intensity. The project also offers a new perspective on the effect of personality on political evaluations. By evaluating the personality basis of partisanship and partisan strength, this project extends research on personality and politics in a new and fruitful direction.Broader Impacts: This study addresses crucial questions about the quality of democratic citizenship and whether polarization contributes to or undermines the quality of political decision-making. By evaluating the causes of the public's heightened ties to parties, this study will assess how actions on policies are driven by representational concerns.