Columbus (Ohio), July 16 (ANI): A new study of political polarization in the United States has suggested that changes in the labour market since 1970s has helped to create more Republican and Democratic partisans and fewer independents.
The growth in partisanship in political preferences has to do with people's current income and their expectations of job security, author of the study and Ohio University Assistant Professor Philipp Rehm said.
According to Rehm, since the 1970s, a growing number of workers have found that their current incomes and beliefs about their job security have converged
In other words, their preferences have aligned completely behind either Democratic or Republican policies. Rehm calls these people natural partisans.
In a study published in the British Journal of Political Science, Rehm estimated that slightly more than half of Americans could be counted as natural partisans in 1968, based on their income and job security.
But, the number of natural partisans had climbed to nearly two-thirds of all Americans in 2008.
"Americans who feel cross-pressured - liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats - have faded in number and importance, leaving only liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans. This can help explain why politics has polarized so much over the last four decades", the Newswise quoted Rehm, as saying.
According to Rehm's study, people with low incomes would support the Democratic Party, which favours redistributional policies.
Wealthier individuals would support the Republican Party, based on its opposition to redistributional policies.
Rehm's study also showed that there is also growing risk inequality in the US.
"The poor are not only becoming poorer, but they are also becoming more exposed to risks to their income. And the rich are not only becoming richer, but are also less exposed to risks," Rehm said. (ANI)
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