A Comparative Analysis of the Policy Development Function of State Party Organizations

Authors

  • Joel Paddock

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2374-7781.1994.15.0.291-303

Abstract

Platforms provide a guide to a party's ideological location at a particular time. As such, they can be a useful tool for comparing interparty and intraparty differences over policy alternatives at the subnational level. This analysis of the recent platforms of 40 state Democratic parties and 34 state Republican parties, patterned after Ginsberg’s (1972. 1976) framework, revealed considerable ideological decentralization (across-state intraparty differences) within both parties. Further analysis of platform contents in relationship to Erikson. Wright, and Mclver's (1993) research revealed weak correlations between the ideological content of platforms and the ideological orientations of state electorates, state elected officials, state party activists, and party identifiers, respectively.

References

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Published

1994-07-01

Issue

Vol. 15: Summer 1994

Section

Articles

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