Party Images in the American Electorate

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.

Mark D. Brewer is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Maine. He is the author of Relevant No More? The Catholic/Protestant Divide in American Electoral Politics; and co-author of Diverging Parties; Split: Class and Cultural Divides in American Politics; and Parties and Elections in America, 5th edition.

1. Pictures of Parties 2. Party Images in the Electorate as a Whole 3. Party Images and the Class Cleavage 4. Party Images and Race and Ethnicity 5. Party Images and Sex 6. Party Images and Religious Salience 7. Conclusion