Expressive Politics: Animus, Cognitive Dissonance, and Electoral Extremism

• In Event: Political Parties and American Democracy Mini-Conference III: Constitutions, Counter-Majoritarianism, and American Democracy

Abstract

We study a model of electoral competition that incorporates two expressive benefits of can- didate position taking: the psychological costs of deviating from one’s own preferred policy and the psychological benefits of antagonizing an out-group. Whereas concerns about cog- nitive dissonance consistently temper candidate extremism, we show, the effects of animus are non-monotonic—exacerbating policy divisions when baseline levels are low, and trigger- ing one candidate’s capitulation (as distinct from both candidates’ moderation) when they are high. We further show that when communication channels are siloed and voters are less con- cerned about voting for someone who represents their own policy views, candidates are es- pecially inclined to stoke inter-group animosities. Our findings have broad implications for understandings of political polarization, partisan sorting and representation, fragmented media markets, and separation of powers.

Authors

• William G. Howell, University of Chicago

• Mattias K. Polborn, Vanderbilt University

• Stefan Krasa, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign