The South, the suburbs, and the Vatican too: explaining partisan change among Catholics
This paper explains changes in partisanship among Catholics in the last quarter of the 20th Century using a theory of partisan change centered on the contexts in which Catholics lived. Catholics were part of the post-New Deal Democratic coalition, but they have become a swing demographic group. We...
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| Format: | Article |
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Springer
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34566/ |
| _version_ | 1848794883901358080 |
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| author | Ryan, John Barry Milazzo, Caitlin |
| author_facet | Ryan, John Barry Milazzo, Caitlin |
| author_sort | Ryan, John Barry |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This paper explains changes in partisanship among Catholics in the last quarter of the 20th Century using a theory of partisan change centered on the contexts in which Catholics lived. Catholics were part of the post-New Deal Democratic coalition, but they have become a swing demographic group. We argue that these changes in partisanship are best explained by changes in elite messages that are filtered through an individual’s social network. Those Catholics who lived or moved into the increasingly Republican suburbs and South were the Catholics who were most likely to adopt a non-Democratic partisan identity. Changes in context better explain Catholic partisanship than party abortion policy post Roe v. Wade or ideological sorting. We demonstrate evidence in support of our argument using the ANES cumulative file from 1972 through 2000. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:23:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-34566 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:23:17Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Springer |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-345662020-05-04T17:07:29Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34566/ The South, the suburbs, and the Vatican too: explaining partisan change among Catholics Ryan, John Barry Milazzo, Caitlin This paper explains changes in partisanship among Catholics in the last quarter of the 20th Century using a theory of partisan change centered on the contexts in which Catholics lived. Catholics were part of the post-New Deal Democratic coalition, but they have become a swing demographic group. We argue that these changes in partisanship are best explained by changes in elite messages that are filtered through an individual’s social network. Those Catholics who lived or moved into the increasingly Republican suburbs and South were the Catholics who were most likely to adopt a non-Democratic partisan identity. Changes in context better explain Catholic partisanship than party abortion policy post Roe v. Wade or ideological sorting. We demonstrate evidence in support of our argument using the ANES cumulative file from 1972 through 2000. Springer 2015-06-01 Article PeerReviewed Ryan, John Barry and Milazzo, Caitlin (2015) The South, the suburbs, and the Vatican too: explaining partisan change among Catholics. Political Behavior, 37 (2). pp. 441-463. ISSN 1573-6687 Partisanship Catholics social networks http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11109-014-9276-2 doi:10.1007/s11109-014-9276-2 doi:10.1007/s11109-014-9276-2 |
| spellingShingle | Partisanship Catholics social networks Ryan, John Barry Milazzo, Caitlin The South, the suburbs, and the Vatican too: explaining partisan change among Catholics |
| title | The South, the suburbs, and the Vatican too: explaining partisan change among Catholics |
| title_full | The South, the suburbs, and the Vatican too: explaining partisan change among Catholics |
| title_fullStr | The South, the suburbs, and the Vatican too: explaining partisan change among Catholics |
| title_full_unstemmed | The South, the suburbs, and the Vatican too: explaining partisan change among Catholics |
| title_short | The South, the suburbs, and the Vatican too: explaining partisan change among Catholics |
| title_sort | south, the suburbs, and the vatican too: explaining partisan change among catholics |
| topic | Partisanship Catholics social networks |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34566/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34566/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34566/ |