Abstract:
Among the most reliable patterns in American partisan, public opinion is
the consistent antipathy towards higher government spending exhibited by
Republicans compared to Democrats. This gap in public opinion has
grown, not shrunk in the recent era. Another consistent divide in
partisan public opinion is the tendency by Democrats to favor civil
liberties more than "law and order" Republican. Our paper examines
whether American citizens follow these partisan patterns in the context
of the war on terror. Specifically, do Democrats and Republicans remain
divided in predictable ways when asked about spending more to protect
our civil infrastructure against terrorism, and about limiting civil
liberties in order to more effectively fight terrorism?
We find that partisanship does not influence views on sacrificing civil
liberties in the fight on terror, and is less influential than fear of
terrorism on the spending questions.
Description:
A paper presented at the American Political Science Association’s Annual Meeting, August 31, 2006, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
