GARY C. JACOBSON
University of California,San Diego
Partisan
and Ideological Polarization in the California Electorate
The textbook
image of the California electorate as unusually independent, moderate, antipartisan,
and prone to ticket splitting is badly out of date. As in Washington, DC,
increased partisan polarization in California's state government reflects
increased partisan polarization in the electorate. This study shows that,
compared to other American voters, Californians are stronger party identifers,
more loyal to their parties' candidates, less likely to split their tickets,
and more extreme ideologically. Moreover, the California electorate, like
the national electorate, has become increasingly partisan, loyal, consistent,
and prone to ideological extremity since the 1970s. These developments,
combined with legislative district lines that have given the parties more
politically distinct constituencies, have echoed and reinforced the increasingly
polarized partisan divisions in California state government, just as they
have at the national level.
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