Title

A New Front In The Culture War? Moral Traditionalism And Voting Behavior In U.S. House Elections

Keywords

Culture war; Elections; Political ideology; U.S. House of Representatives; Voting

Abstract

This article examines the effect of cultural values on voting behavior in elections below the presidential level. Using data from the American National Election Studies, the article examines the effect of moral traditionalism on individual-level vote choice in U.S. House elections. Findings indicate that a new front has been opened in the culture war, with moral traditionalism exerting an indirect effect on vote choice through party identification and, most importantly, a direct effect since the mid- to late 1990s, one that was hitherto not evident. This suggests that a greater emphasis placed on cultural issues by candidates and other political elites, or possibly changes in the images held by the electorate of both parties, has resulted in a moral traditionalism cleavage being driven down to voting behavior at the congressional level. Overall, these findings suggest a widening and deepening of a cultural values-based realignment of the American electorate. © 2005 Sage Publications.

Publication Date

9-1-2005

Publication Title

American Politics Research

Volume

33

Issue

5

Number of Pages

645-671

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X04270517

Socpus ID

23844530868 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/23844530868

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