Interrelationships among Attitudes and Orientations

Evaluations of candidate character traits, assessments of government performance, and orientations on public policy issues not only influence the vote, they also affect each other. Voters who hold conservative positions on key policy issues are not only more likely to agree with the issue positions of the Republican candidate; they also will be likely to have a favorable view of the character traits of that candidate. Voters who feel that the incumbent president has not managed the economy very well are likely to judge many of the president’s personal qualities unfavorably, especially those regarding judgment and leadership. Although the attitudes and orientations identified above are conceptually distinct, they are empirically interrelated.

Moreover, party identification and ideology shape these attitudes and orientations. Party identification, as discussed above, strongly affects how voters view and interpret political events and actions. Even opinions on matters that might seem factual in nature, such as how well the incumbent administration managed the economy, are influenced by one’s party identification. Similarly, ideological orientations and dispositions are likely to influence not only issue positions, but also perceptions of candidate character traits and of government performance. Strong liberals in 2020 were more likely to think highly of Joe Biden?s personal qualities and less likely to think that Donald Trump had done a good job of managing the economy. Strong conservatives were more likely to feel the opposite.

Finally, while party identification usually is viewed as influencing candidate evaluations, performance assessments, and issue orientations, these attitudes may also affect party identification, especially in the long run. For example, Democrats with more conservative attitudes may become Republicans, something that has occurred in the South in recent decades. Similarly, voters might shift their party loyalties because of their views of government performance, especially if they consistently see one party in a more favorable light. While party identification is stable, it does respond to other political attitudes. A 2017 Pew Research Report found that about 10 percent of voters had changed their party identification in the past year (Pew Research Center 2017).