Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP10562
Authors: Eric D. Gould; Esteban F. Klor
Abstract: This paper examines the effect of party affiliation on an individual?s political views. To do this, we exploit the party realignment that occurred in the U.S. due to abortion becoming a more prominent and highly partisan issue over time. We show that abortion was not a highly partisan issue in 1982, but a person?s abortion views in 1982 led many to switch parties over time as the two main parties diverged in their stances on this issue. We find that voting for a given political party in 1996, due to the individual?s initial views on abortion in 1982, has a substantial effect on a person?s political, social, and economic attitudes in 1997. These findings are stronger for highly partisan political issues, and are robust to controlling for a host of personal views and characteristics in 1982 and 1997. As individuals realigned their party affiliation in accordance with their initial abortion views, their other political views followed suit.
Keywords: Partisanship; Political Preferences
JEL Codes: D72
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Abortion views in 1982 (J13) | Party affiliation in 1996 (D72) |
| Party affiliation in 1996 (D72) | Political views in 1997 (D72) |
| Abortion views in 1982 (J13) | Political views in 1997 (D72) |
| Party affiliation in 1996 (D72) | Conservative views on social issues in 1997 (E65) |
| Party affiliation in 1996 (D72) | Conservative views on economic issues in 1997 (E65) |