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Party Identification

Party identification is the attachment of a citizen to a political party. The concept forms the core of a dominant approach to the study of electoral behavior and political participation. American electoral research has inspired researchers worldwide, and party identification is an influential but rather contested concept in a non-American context.

Overview

Party identification as a concept was developed only after the Second World War, but in reference to conflicts between groups, attachment to a specific group is arguably as old as politics itself. The concept became the pivotal element of the so-called party identification model. Party identification is considered to be the result of socialization processes and is able to explain political behavior and party choice. Outside the United States, party identification fares less well, since ...

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