The Structure of Political Ideology, and Its Influence on Voter Turnout: An Analysis of the 2000 and 2004 Presidential Elections

Abstract

This article uses data from the 2000 and 2004 waves of the American National Election Survey to examine the influence of the ideological dimensions of moraltraditionalism and market-fundamentalism on voter turnout. The majority of the literature on voting behavior utilizes a single-dimensional measure of "ideology," however, literature focused on the structure and organization of "ideology" suggests that it is multi-dimensional. Studies using a multi-dimensional approach only rarely apply the framework to questions of civic and political participation. In this paper, I seek to place these two disparate literatures in dialogue, by applying a dualdimensional ideological framework to the question of voter turnout. My findings strongly support a dual-dimension conceptualization, in contrast to the singledimensional approach commonly utilized. I find that nearly half of the population has a distinct political leaning on one dimension, while trending toward the center on the other. I also find that each dimension's influence on the decision to vote is independent of the other. While both dimensions are organized within liberalconservative frameworks, each dimension is distinct, and both should not be combined into a single liberal/conservative ideological framework.