Polarized About Not By Race and Gender

Conventional narratives describe a widening gender gap and a narrowing racial gap in recent presidential elections, fueling claims that gender has supplanted race as the dominant axis of political conflict. This interpretation, however, mischaracterizes the evolving structure of mass political behavior. The gender and racial gaps in voting and partisan identification have actually changed little in recent decades. Americans are, nonetheless, more polarized about race and gender than ever before. Drawing on a variety of cross-sectional and panel datasets over the last X years, we compare trends in voting and partisanship by race and gender with trends in voting and partisanship about race and gender, showing how attitudes rather than ascriptive characteristics are reshaping political coalitions. We discuss the implications of this distinction for the future of American politics.

Recommended citation: Reny, T., Geiger, J., & Donovan, S. "Polarized About Not By Race and Gender."
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