Extreme Politics: Party Polarization and Social Issues in the United States (1936-2012)

ABSTRACT

Introduction

This article dedicates itself to the study of the political polarization’s social issues in the United States between 1936-2012. Through the use of platforms at the national level, this study aims to verify the supposedly polarization between the two main political parties in this country and to contribute to new research methods in the study of political parties.

Methods

The Republican and Democratic national platforms were used as an indicative of party ideological position. As such, through the creation of categories and, afterwards, scales of gradation built through informational programs such as SPSS, ManyEyes/IBM and NVivo, the political positioning of these two parties were mesured and compared seeking to verify ideological approximations and distancing.

Results

The results show us that, indeed, thre is a party polarization in recent period when referring to social issues caused, mainly, by a conservative ascendancy by the Republican party that began in the 1970s.

Discussion

Result of an exaustive work of reading, interpreting and coding of 40 documents that embrace almost a century of history, this article contributes to a greater comprehension of a recent political and social phenomena of great importance for Political Science.

KEYWORDS:
Ideological Polarization; Conservatism; United States; Republican Party; Democratic Party