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Abstract
Does class matter for political behavior? Using ANES cumulative data from 1956 to 2000 for class voting and CPS data from 1972 to 2000 for voter-turnout, I reexamine the reality behind the myth of the death of class.
I find that there has been significant and strong class bias in voter-turnout through 1972 to 2000. There is a linear relationship between class and voter-turnout. Furthermore, the higher class has been more likely to choose to vote for the Republican Parry over abstention, whereas the lower class has been more likely to choose abstention over voting for the Republican Party.
Class voting in the United States has reemerged since 1976, especially since 1984. Since the 1976 election, except for 1980, there has been a significant and strong linear relationship between class and voting choice. Class has become a statistically significant factor in predicting partisanship in the same period. In that period, class has been a more significant factor in voting decision and partisanship than before. Therefore, theories of declining class politics are not supported at least in the field of partisanship and class voting. Rather, American class politics have been undergoing a process of realignment process by income criteria.
Class effects on the Democratic Party voting are diminished when we examine non-voters. Non-class factors affect abstention over the Democratic Party voting. However, class affected abstention over the Republican Party voting. The relatively big size of the lower class abstention diminishes class effects on the Democratic Party voting. However, it does not nullify the class effects on the Republican Party voting.
The reemergence of class voting is closely related to issue salience, changes in the political parties, and increased income inequality. When welfare issues and economic concerns are salient, class directly affected voting choice and indirectly through partisanship.
