Why do people identify with political parties? How stable are those identifications? Stable party systems, with a limited number of parties and mostly stable voter identification with a party, are normally considered significant signals of a steady democracy. In Dynamic Partisanship, Ken Kollman and John E. Jackson study changing patterns of partisanship in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia over the last fifty years in order to disentangle possible reasons for shifting partisanship and party identification. The authors argue that changes in partisanship can be explained by adjustments in voters' attitudes toward issues or parties; the success or failure of policies advocated by parties; or alterations in parties' positions on key issues. They contend that, while all three factors contribute, it is the latter, a party changing positions on a chief concern, that most consistently leads voters to or from a particular party. Their approach provides a deeper knowledge of the critical moving parts in democratic politics.

About the Author
Ken Kollman is the Frederick G. L. Huetwell Professor and professor of political science at the University of Michigan. John E. Jackson is the M. Kent Jennings Collegiate Professor Emeritus of political science and professor emeritus of political science at the University of Michigan.


Book Information
ISBN 9780226762364
Author Ken Kollman
Format Paperback
Page Count 232
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press