Party and Identity
Nov. 6th, 2006 07:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nancylebovI was thinking about how a lot of Americans (I don't know whether it's a majority of voters) have a strong personal connection to a political party--it takes a lot to get them to vote for a member of the other party, and it can be an emotional strain to do so, though I think this isn't as pervasive now as it was in decades past.
Being an independent can be an identity issue, too--it's not just "I vote for the candidates I think are best, regardless of party", but "I'm the sort of person who doesn't choose candidates by their party".
Do people have less identification with political parties in countries that have parlimentary systems?
Update:: At least so far as my first four comments are concerned, the answer is absolutely not--my impression was that Parlimentary systems give people an exhilerating (or at least moderately entertaining) amount of choice between parties, but apparently it doesn't work like that.
Being an independent can be an identity issue, too--it's not just "I vote for the candidates I think are best, regardless of party", but "I'm the sort of person who doesn't choose candidates by their party".
Do people have less identification with political parties in countries that have parlimentary systems?
Update:: At least so far as my first four comments are concerned, the answer is absolutely not--my impression was that Parlimentary systems give people an exhilerating (or at least moderately entertaining) amount of choice between parties, but apparently it doesn't work like that.
