Partisanship in the Trump Era

This article provides a snapshot of the contemporary American party system focusing on similarities and differences in the attitudes of rank-and-file Republicans and Democrats. In contrast to much journalistic speculation, I find that Republicans are not particularly divided by Donald Trump's hard-edge nationalism and gut-level cultural appeals. Indeed, they seem to be united and energized by cultural conservatism (as measured by survey items tapping support for building a wall on the Mexican border, respect for the American flag, concerns about discrimination against whites, and negative feelings toward Muslims, gays and lesbians, atheists, and immigrants, among others). Democrats, by comparison, are relatively divided on cultural questions but united and animated by support for an activist government. This significant difference in the correlates of partisan affect, especially between the most committed partisans, puts a new twist on conventional understandings of current partisan polarization.