United States: Racial Resentment, Negative Partisanship, and Polarization in Trump’s America
2018/12/20 by Alan Abramowitz, Alan I. Abramowitz, Jennifer McCoy · 365 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Democracy #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Hostility #Ideology #Law #Polarization (electrochemistry) #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Politics of the United States #Populism, Right-Wing Movements #Presidential election #Presidential system #Psychology #Public opinion #Resentment #Social Media and Politics #Social psychology #Sociology #Victory #Voting
paper · doi:10.1177/0002716218811309
published in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 681(1), 137-156 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2018/12/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Abstract
Growing racial, ideological, and cultural polarization within the American electorate contributed to the shocking victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Using data from American National Election Studies surveys, we show that Trump’s unusually explicit appeals to racial and ethnic resentment attracted strong support from white working-class voters while repelling many college-educated whites along with the overwhelming majority of nonwhite voters. However, Trump’s campaign exploited divisions that have been growing within the electorate for decades because of demographic and cultural changes in American society. The 2016 presidential campaign also reinforced another longstanding trend in American electoral politics: the rise of negative partisanship, that is voting based on hostility toward the opposing party and its leaders. We conclude with a discussion of the consequences of deepening partisan and affective polarization for American democracy and the perceptions by both experts and the public of an erosion in its quality.
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