The Fundamentals Sort and Polarize the Electorate

Abstract

Abstract The role of fundamentals has increased substantially over the last forty years because of increasing polarization, which has risen at both the elite and mass levels. This polarization appears to have begun at the elite level before showing up significantly among voters, and it differs at the two levels. The two congressional parties appear to be more homogenous internally but also increasingly extreme and thus more divided externally. The public as a whole is not becoming much more extreme on any of these fundamentals, but partisans are increasingly taking the same side on all of the fundamentals, a process known as sorting. They both tend to agree with their fellow partisans on most matters of political consequence and differ from their opposition on nearly everything. This chapter asks whether sorting has helped generate the increasingly negativity and even hostility partisans show to their opponents, whether in government or among the public.