The dissertation seeks to meld the two dominant competing theories of
party identifi?cation in the US context: the expressive view, where
Party ID is seen as a long standing
psychological attachment to a political party; and the instrumental
view, where Party ID
is subject to reevaluation. Using ANES panel data, the paper examines
both expressive
and instrumental elements of partisanship. In keeping with past
research, it finds strong
evidence for the expressive understanding of Party ID; partisan
groupings tend to be highly
stable. However, the strength of identifications varies considerably
over time, with perceptions of candidates, presidential approval,
policy preferences, and ideological orientations
driving these changes. These results are in keeping with an instrumental
conceptualization
of partisan identities.