IDEOLOGY AND PARTISANSHIP IN AMERICAN POLITICS: A CRITICAL REVIEW

Abstract

In the literature, there have been different views and studiesfocusing on the changing notion of partisanship and the role of ideologyin American politics. Scholars of American politics have been studyingthe concept of ideologies both empirically and theoretically. While somescholars argue that there has been a significant increase inpartisanship, others claim the change in the polarization andpartisanship has been exaggerated.This study aims to explore the historical evolution of the conceptsof ideology and partisanship since the 1950s in American politics. Indoing so, in the first place, the main theoretical and empirical studies ofthe major scholars in the field will be discussed by focusing on thehistorical development of ideology and partisanship within the contextof US. Second, a brief critical review of the existing studies will beprovided, along with suggestions for future research.The concepts have been debated both theoretically and empiricallyby many scholars in the field. Despite the variations in the analysis ofmass polarization, the overall agreement is reached on elite levelanalyses in which scholars largely agreed upon the argument thatpartisanship has increased among the political elites. Among thepolitical elites and/or the American public, we find that ideology andpartisanship have experienced a substantial evolution since the 1950sand they continue to be the major defining elements of Americanpolitics in the future.