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The Changing Polarization of Party Ideologies: The Role of Sorting

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  • Satyajit Chatterjee
  • Burcu Eyigungor

Abstract

Ideology scores derived from U.S. congressional roll-call voting patterns show that the ideological distance between the two parties along the primary dimension changes inversely with the ideological distance along the secondary dimension. To explain this inverse association, a model of party competition with endogenous party membership and a two-dimensional ideology space is developed. If the distribution of voter preferences is uniform on a disk, equilibrium ideological distances along the two dimensions are inversely related. The model can quantitatively account for the historical movements in ideological distances as a function of changes in the ideological orientation of the two parties.

Suggested Citation

  • Satyajit Chatterjee & Burcu Eyigungor, 2024. "The Changing Polarization of Party Ideologies: The Role of Sorting," Working Papers 24-04, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedpwp:97777
    DOI: 10.21799/frbp.wp.2024.04
    Note: Supersedes WP 23-07: https://doi.org/10.21799/frbp.wp.2023.07
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    polarization; primaries; partisan sorting; political economy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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