Ideology vs. Identity: What Drives Political Preferences?

Published May 15, 2024

Hoover Fellow, Elizabeth Elder, challenges the notion that voters engage with politics based on informed and consistent policy preferences and, instead, shows that people make sense of politics through the lens of social group identities. Group factors such as race and gender provide citizens with emotional stakes and informational cues that guide their political decision-making, often leading to polarization. Elder explores how race strongly predicts public opinion and voting behavior, while gender, though not as strongly associated with political views, significantly impacts patterns of political engagement and representation.

Check Out More on Elections:

• Watch "The Partisan Myth: How Voting Laws Actually Affect Election Results" with Justin Grimmer here.
• Watch "By Constitutional Design: The Electoral College" from John Yoo here.
• Watch "Ranked-Choice Voting: Capturing Voter Preferences" from David Brady here.

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