Partisanship And Ethnicity

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A Hardened America: The Relationship between Ethnicity and Strength of Partisanship INTRODUCTION Although there has been a great deal of research on the correlations between ethnicity and partisanship, there hasn’t been much research on the intensity of partisanship across different ethnicities. For example, we have long known that Latinos, as a whole, are more likely to vote Democrat (Cain, Kiewiet, and Uhlaner, 1991), but how strongly are they tied to the Democratic Party? My research attempts to address the relationship between voters’ ethnicities and their partisanship intensity. Although I’m focusing my research on ethnic groups (Asian, Black, Latino, Caucasian, Mixed, and Other) living in San Diego, it is important to note a resurgence…show more content…
Partisanship can also be indicated by measuring each of these values and their distance from 4 (the neutral “Independent” value). By measuring it this way, we can see not only how partisan each group is, but also toward which party (Republican or Democrat). In order to alleviate confusion, Figure 3 shows the Independent Value of 4 as the value of 0. The corresponding values (in increments of 0.5) are the respondent values’ distance from 4 (i.e. a value of 5.5 would transform into 1.5 to the right; a value of 3 would become 1.0 to the left, etc.). Blacks are still visibly the most partisan in favor of the…show more content…
According to the chart, we are able to say with 90% confidence that a relationship exists between ethnicity and strength of partisanship, and that the relationship can be generalized to the entire population. CONCLUSION There is a very significant relationship between ethnicity and strength of partisanship. That is, a voter’s ethnic background is a major factor in how strongly they will side with a particular party. This study was focused exclusively on ethnicity and left out other variables that could also contribute to a voter’s strength of partisanship. Correlating variables such as income and age should be studied more in depth to determine if and how they contribute to partisanship intensity. Also, the study was conducted in a unique region (San Diego) that may hold its own set of unique behaviors among different ethnic groups. In order to better analyze the whole of America, research should be done in different states and cities on a much larger scale in order to more effectively generalize the relationship to the entire
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