Party Polarization
Party polarization is a general framework that formulated political polarization in terms of political parties.
Contents
Description
Party polarization is a very loose framework that simply prescribes studying political polarization in terms of political parties, as opposed to behavioral theory.
There are many closely-related fields in the public choice and political philosophy spaces.
- Behavioral theories such as:
Median voter theorem, for why polarization is not expected.
Pivotal politics model, for how the appearance of polarization can be achieved without an actual political undercurrent.
Critical theories, e.g. Marxism, have a clear interpretation of both polarization (i.e., history of conflict) and lack of polarization (i.e., elites suppressing consciousness).
Polarization is a topic of study in the field of institutional design.
Reading Notes
Ideological Realignment and Active Partisans in the American Electorate, Alan I. Abramowitz and Kyle L. Saunders, 2004