Party affiliation has long been the driving force behind electoral politics in the United States. Despite this fact, scant attention has been devoted to the American electorate’s party images―the "mental pictures" that individuals have about the parties which enable citizens to translate events in the larger political environment into terms meaningful to them as individuals. Party images are central to understanding individuals’ political perceptions and, ultimately, voting behavior. Party Images in the American Electorate systematically examines the substance, evolution, and manipulation of party images within the American public over the last half century, both within the public as a whole and within important subgroups based on class, race and ethnicity, sex, and religiosity. Ultimately, this important book investigates how these party images are tied into the story of party polarization and how they affect electoral outcomes in the United States.

Product Description: Relevant No More? The Catholic/Protestant Divide in American Electoral Politics re-examines current prevailing views on the political affiliations of religious voters. Analysing both the history of religious voting behavior and current trends, author Mark Brewer argues that the supposedly drastic shift of the allegiance of American Catholics from the Democratic party to the Republican party has been greatly exaggerated...read more

Product Description: Party polarization in the House of Representatives has increased in recent decades. Explaining this development has been difficult, given current interpretations of American elections. The dominant framework for interpreting elections has been to see them as candidate-centered, or individualistic...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)