Journal article
The Structure of American Political Discontent
PUBLIC OPINION QUARTERLY, v 86(2), p381
10 Jun 2022
PMID: 35702628
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
We explore the role of political discontent as a second dimension of American public opinion. Others have shown that a second dimension tends to capture social and/or racial attitudes. What happens when indicators of discontent are included in such analyses? Using data from two surveys and the ordered optimal classification (OOC) procedure, we scale seven items from the discontent literature alongside a larger set of questions that has been shown to capture the two-dimensional structure of mass opinion. Discontent items dominate the second dimension in both data sets. Further, five of the seven items predict voting for insurgents in the 2016 presidential primaries. Second-dimension attitudes matter in elections and concern the political system writ large. By extension, the liberal-conservative heuristic gives an incomplete picture of mass political behavior.
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Details
- Title
- The Structure of American Political Discontent
- Publication Details
- PUBLIC OPINION QUARTERLY, v 86(2), p381
- Publisher
- OXFORD UNIV PRESS; OXFORD
- Grant note
- The authors thank discussants and audience members at the 2018 Annual Meetings of the Midwest and American Political Science Associations. The 2016 Cooperative Congressional Election Study data were collected by YouGov with support from numerous sources. The 2016 Voter Study Group data were collected by YouGov with support from the Democracy Fund.
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Drexel University
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000788613600001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85133003057
- Other Identifier
- 991021861191204721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Communication
- Political Science
- Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary