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4 books match the query 'Partisanship'

cover of Beyond Ideology: Politics, Principles, and Partisanship in the U. S. Senate

Beyond Ideology

Politics, Principles, and Partisanship in the U. S. Senate

Frances E. Lee

University of Chicago Press, 2009

The congressional agenda, Frances Lee contends, includes many issues about which liberals and conservatives generally agree. Even over these matters, though, Democratic and Republican senators tend to fight with each other. What explains this discord? Beyond Ideology argues that many partisan battles are rooted in competition for power rather than disagreement over the rightful role of government.

The first book to systematically distinguish Senate disputes centering on ideological questions from the large proportion of them that do not, this volume foregrounds the role of power struggle in partisan conflict. Presidential leadership, for example, inherently polarizes legislators who can influence public opinion of the president and his party by how they handle his agenda. Senators also exploit good government measures and floor debate to embarrass opponents and burnish their own party’s image—even when the issues involved are broadly supported or low-stakes. Moreover, Lee contends, the congressional agenda itself amplifies conflict by increasingly focusing on issues that reliably differentiate the parties. With the new president pledging to stem the tide of partisan polarization, Beyond Ideology provides a timely taxonomy of exactly what stands in his way.

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cover of Deserving Americans: Partisanship and the New Politics of Social Policy

Deserving Americans

Partisanship and the New Politics of Social Policy

Chris Faricy and Christopher Ellis

University of Chicago Press, 0

A new framework for showing why deservingness politics, more than ideology, has become the central battleground for social policy in a polarized age.

Why do Americans support some government programs but not others? In Deserving Americans, Chris Faricy and Christopher Ellis argue that the answer lies in identity, not ideology. Specifically, support for particular social policies depends on perceptions of whether beneficiaries of government assistance actually deserve the aid that they receive. As partisanship and social identity have converged, partisans increasingly view government aid as a vehicle for rewarding ingroups and punishing outgroups, creating a politics polarized on identity and who government should serve.

Faricy and Ellis show how these dynamics play out across a wide range of policy domains, from antipoverty to health care to family policy and more. Their findings help to clarify many of our current predicaments, yielding insights that explain trends in public opinion and partisan debates over public policy. Deserving Americans offers a powerful new framework for understanding how Americans view social policy—and each other. 

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cover of From Politics to the Pews: How Partisanship and the Political Environment Shape Religious Identity

From Politics to the Pews

How Partisanship and the Political Environment Shape Religious Identity

Michele F. Margolis

University of Chicago Press, 2018

One of the most substantial divides in American politics is the “God gap.” Religious voters tend to identify with and support the Republican Party, while secular voters generally support the Democratic Party. Conventional wisdom suggests that religious differences between Republicans and Democrats have produced this gap, with voters sorting themselves into the party that best represents their religious views.

Michele F. Margolis offers a bold challenge to the conventional wisdom, arguing that the relationship between religion and politics is far from a one-way street that starts in the church and ends at the ballot box. Margolis contends that political identity has a profound effect on social identity, including religion. Whether a person chooses to identify as religious and the extent of their involvement in a religious community are, in part, a response to political surroundings. In today’s climate of political polarization, partisan actors also help reinforce the relationship between religion and politics, as Democratic and Republican elites stake out divergent positions on moral issues and use religious faith to varying degrees when reaching out to voters.
 
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cover of Reconsidering Parties and Partisanship

Reconsidering Parties and Partisanship

Edited by Christopher F. Karpowitz and Jeremy C. Pope

University of Michigan Press, 2026

Since partisanship has become a powerful force in the U.S., academic literature is replete with different approaches to this complex, multifaceted topic. Reconsidering Parties and Partisanship brings together prominent scholars working on issues related to parties and partisanship for a collection of essays on how American partisanship is shifting and changing in the 21st century. This volume pushes readers to re-evaluate their understanding of the role of parties and partisanship in contemporary politics and offers a helpful set of analyses and tools for understanding the key features of the partisan environment in which the nation finds itself. 

The scholars here approach parties from the standpoint of partisan and social identities, polarization, the prevalence of independents (and pseudo-independents), political campaigns, and more. In linking the different faces or levels—party-in-the-electorate, party-in-government, and party-as-an-organization—the chapters provide a wide-ranging set of theories and ideas to consider. Through this exploration, Reconsidering Parties and Partisanship provides a valuable road map for partisanship in our current era.  

Readers will learn
  • How conditional party government seems to work in this highly partisan era
  • How donors and pressure groups have taken ownership over campaigns
  • How independents are often undercover partisans, but who also feel repelled by the existing parties—even the one they typically support
  • How various identities converge to produce partisan affection (when that exists)
  • How partisanship relates to ideology.
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