Party Identification

Party identification was measured in this survey by a two-part question. First, respondents were asked whether they considered themselves to be a Democrat, a Republican, or an independent. Those who responded that they considered themselves to be a Democrat or a Republican were asked whether they considered themselves to be a strong or a weak Democrat or Republican. Those who responded that they considered themselves to be an independent were asked whether they leaned toward one party or not. This yields a sevenfold classification:

• Strong Democrats
• Weak Democrats
• Independents closer to the Democrats (Independent Democrats)
• Independents not closer to either party
• Independents closer to the Republicans (Independent Republicans)
• Weak Republicans
• Strong Republicans

The above classification seems to indicate that independent Democrats are less Democratic than are weak Democrats, and that the same is true for independent and weak Republicans. However, the previous discussion of Table 1A suggests that independent leaners may be as partisan as the weak party identifiers, but they just prefer to call themselves independents.