In the mid-1960's, the American people were gripped by a certain nameless fear brought on by America's military failure in Viet Nam, racial tension, student unrest, crumbling cities, and the nuclear arms race. This fear caused many to turn to a new conservatism, for the Democratic Party, symbolized by Lyndon Johnson, seemed to be the cause of many of these frightening problems. The Democrats were believed to be responsible for Viet Nam, for the growing racial confrontations, and for the overgrowing federal bureaucracy. This new conservatism benefited the Republican Party, and between 1964 and 1968, this party became ascendant. Throughout American history, a realignment of party identification has occurred every thirty to thirty-five years, and now the time was ripe. This thesis attempts to prove that there was a realignment in the partisan identifications of the electorate's support for the two parties, and that in the last half of the past decade realignment did take place.

Background. This thesis directs attention to how attitudes towards immigrants evolve under different contextual circumstances. Unlike previous research that primarily focuses on contextual factors related to the availability of material resources, the included studies explore the influence of less tangible aspects of our surroundings, brought together under the term immaterial contexts. Three kinds of immaterial contexts are in focus: political representatives’ use of nationalistic rhetoric, the parliamentary presence of the extreme right, and the religious context. The studies examine the direct effects of these contexts, but also how individuals’ beliefs, loyalties, and experiences interact with the contextual factors to shape peoples’ attitudes. Methods. The thesis takes a comparative approach where countries serve as the main contextual unit. Data on attitudes and other individual features are gathered from the European Social Survey 2002-2012. To be able to analyze these data in the same model as used for country-level data, the thesis applies multi-level models. Results. The findings support a theoretical expectation that immaterial contexts influence anti-immigrant attitudes. How people perceive immigrants and immigration can be traced to political and religious aspects of their surroundings. Also, it is found that individuals are not passive recipients of contextual influences as their reactions depend on their preferences and experiences. While political representatives influence anti-immigrant attitudes, these effects are strongly conditional both on features of the representatives themselves, and on characteristics and experiences of individuals. For example, individuals respond to political rhetoric by traditional political parties but are not influenced by the same kind of message if conveyed by a party belonging to the extreme right. Conclusion. The thesis is an attempt to widen the very notion of contexts in empirical research, and as such, it is a contribution to the literature on anti-immigrant attitudes. It shows that anti-immigrant attitudes depend not only on material circumstances, but also on immaterial circumstances tied to the political and religious arena. Further, the thesis demonstrates how combining the theoretical perspectives of group threat theory and framing theory implies greater possibilities to conceive of the link between contexts and attitudes, as well as improved theoretical tools to understand when and why such effects do not occur. It signals that research on immaterial contexts is necessary to further advance the comparative scholarship on anti-immigrant attitudes and reach a deeper understanding of how such attitudes emerge and evolve.

<p>How can we explain variation in support for radical right parties over time and across post-communist democracies? This project suggests that support for radical right parties is driven by the politics of accommodation, and is aimed at counteracting the political inroads, cultural concessions and economic gains of politically organized minorities. It differs from other studies of extremist politics in three primary respects: (1) Unlike current approaches that focus on competition between the extreme and mainstream parties, I emphasize dynamics between the radical right party and non- proximate parties that promote minority rights. (2) Several approaches argue that xenophobia drives support for the radical right, whereas I show that xenophobia is not a distinct feature of the radical right party support base; what differentiates radical right voters from other voters is opposition to governmental transfers towards politically organized minorities. (3) I endogenize issue salience and identify coalition politics - i.e., coalitions of mainstream parties and parties supporting minority protection - as a key mechanism that increases the salience of identity issues in political competition, and benefits radical right parties. The project tests these propositions empirically, and finds supportive evidence using two unique micro-level surveys and an original party-election-level data set covering all post-communist democracies.</p> / Dissertation

An analysis of the social psychology and contributing influences behind American polarization in the early twenty-first century.

It is not surprising that most detailed analysis of parliamentary politics during the mid to later 1640s has been directed at the so-called Independent Party. In particular, the work of Mrs. Pearl and David Underdown has achieved a great deal in revealing a clearer picture of the character, personnel and objectives of that party; and in so doing they have also improved our general knowledge of party politics at Westminster. Even so, the detailed character of this recent research has created the need for a similar analysis of those politicians or grandees who constituted the Presbyterian Party. No clear appreciation of party divisions in the two Houses of the parliament is possible without restoring a balance in our understanding of both parties. Indeed, I feel that such a study is essential to enable us to reappraise certain interpretations and to propose different ones where concentration on one area of party politics has resulted in distortion or misleading conclusions. Consequently it has been my purpose in this study of the Presbyterian Party to follow its career from late 1643 to the early autumn of 1647, as well as revealing something of the political background to the alliance of the Scots Comissioners and the Earl of Essex's group. I have also sought to illustrate the conflict in its broadest context by investigating not only how the character of the two 'parties' was affected by the parliamentary tactics they employed, but also the extra-parliamentary contacts and strategy of the Presbyterian party or alliance. Without an understanding of political and religious developments in the City of London, and the intricacies of Montereul's mission, only a partial view of the activities of such leaders as Densil Helles and Sir Philip Stapleton would be obtained. Chapter 1 serves as an introduction to the thesis, and attempts to provide a critical indication of the current state of research into the development of parties in the Long Parliament. I recognise the significance of local and regional interests as factors affecting political activities at Westminster, whilst emphasising the importance of a developing national consciousness amongst the 'grandees' of both Houses in the formation of party groups. I also examine the emergence of religious terms to describe these groups, seeking to ascertain how and why they were adopted and to what extent they reflected the importance of religious differences as the basis of party divisions. The application of religious terms to political groups is traced to royalist confusion, clerical concern for a settled church government in both the Assembly and the City of London, and in particular the preoccupation of the Scottish allies with presbyterianism. Parliamentary sources tend to restrict the political use of the terms 'presbyterian' and 'independent' to the years 1646 and 1647, but I show that the realignment of groups at Westminster which provided the reality behind these terms occurred considerably earlier in the autumn of 1644. Finally I include in Chapter 1 a brief analysis of the Earl of Essex's group or party designed to reveal the political role of the earl and the character of his relationship with his leading advisers in the House of Commons.

The erosion of partisan identification (i.e. dealignment) and its impact on the declining support for traditional parties has been widely documented in Western countries. However, this phenomenon does not appear to be a Western peculiarity. Costa Rica, Latin America's most stable democracy, seems to be following a similar hitherto unstudied path. The present thesis analyses electoral change in this nation. The study assesses whether Costa Rica is undergoing a long-term electoral change; and if so, how the process could be classified and explained. Moreover, it also evaluates how well the theories developed to explicate electoral change in Western democracies illuminate the Costa Rican case. The thesis is divided into five parts. Part I poses the research's methodological and theoretical framework. Part II contextualises the problem via a historical account of political parties' development, and an assessment of the electoral system. After analysing the main evidence of change in citizens' electoral behaviour and political attitudes, Part III characterises the process. Then, Part IV concentrates on explaining it. Finally, the central findings are presented in Part V. The thesis concludes that: 1) Costa Rica is undergoing a long-term electoral change process. This process can be defined as secular dealignment. 2) In the case studied, the erosion of citizens' partisan identification (partisan dealignment) has resulted in a growing electoral flux and the decline of electoral support for the traditional parties (electoral dealignment). 3) Dealignment in Costa Rica is basically caused by the decline of the PLN's (the country's oldest, most important party) historical loyalties. 4) The PLN's partisan identification is eroding due to the combination and mutual influence of political factors and social transformations. While many of the sociological determinants of dealignment in Costa Rica find parallels in developed democracies, some political factors seem to be specific to this country and most probably to Latin American nations. In general terms, this thesis demonstrates the relevance of in-depth, context-sensitive case studies for comparative electoral research, shows that such studies can be undertaken in Latin America, and highlights the theoretical and empirical benefits of election studies outside advanced industrial democracies.

This thesis is concerned primarily with the political organization of the Tory party within the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire between the death of Queen Anne in the summer of 1714 and the General Election of 1747. I was attracted to the subject in the first place "by the work done of late on the period 1688-1714; because the northwest was a traditional stronghold of Royalist and Tory sentiment; and because it was also an area with which I am personally acquainted* By demonstrating the reality of party differences at both the national and provincial levels for the years immediately prior to the Hanoverian Succession, Geoffrey Holmes, W«A« Speck and others had called into question the validity of Sir Lewis Namier f s model as a satisfactory explanation of the structure of politics during the early part of the eighteenth century* It seemed a worthwhile exercise, therefore, to seek to illuminate the political developments of the first half of that century by means of a detailed local study, clearly set against the background of national events ... [see pdf file for full abstract].

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This thesis studies the discursive behaviour of Canadian federal political parties with regards to immigration and integration issues. It seeks to test the empirical acuity offered by brokerage and issue ownership theories to explain the parties' electoral strategies in these domains. It examines the evolution of partisan discourse in relation to these themes over time, with special attention paid to the merger of right parties. It also studies the impact of certain real-world events, such as the referendum on Quebec secession in 1995 and the terrorist attacks of September 2001, on party positions. It thus proposes a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of five major parties' discourse, focusing on the various positions held by each of them on the issues of immigration and integration in their respective 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2004 election platforms.

Photocopy of typescript. / Bibliography: leaves 581-595. / xxxii, 595 leaves ill