Comments on: Religion and social issues as the “opiate of the elites”: conflicting evidence http://redbluerichpoor.com/blog/2008/10/religion-and-social-issues-as-the-opiate-of-the-elites-conflicting-evidence/ Why Americans Vote the Way they Do Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:59:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Andrew http://redbluerichpoor.com/blog/2008/10/religion-and-social-issues-as-the-opiate-of-the-elites-conflicting-evidence/comment-page-1/#comment-850 Andrew Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:57:52 +0000 http://redbluerichpoor.com/blog/?p=134#comment-850 Larry Bartels supports the "opiate of the elites" argument, writing: Chapter 3 of UNEQUAL DEMOCRACY reports estimates of the impact of various issue preferences on presidential votes among high-, middle-, and low-income white voters. The estimated weight of abortion from 1984-2004 is twice as great for whites in the top third of the income distribution as for those in the bottom third. The increase in the estimated weight of abortion over those 20 years is substantial for the top third and zero for the bottom third. And in 2004, the estimated weight of a "cultural issues" scale including abortion (along with gay marriage, gender roles, etc.) is twice as great for the top third as for the bottom third. If you prefer education as a measure of "elite" status, my 2006 piece in QJPS on "What's the Matter with Kansas?" reports parallel analyses differentiating white voters with and without college degrees. From 1984-2004, the weight of abortion is twice as great among people with college degrees. The increase in the estimated weight of abortion over that 20 year period is almost twice as great among people with college degrees. And the estimated weight of abortion in 2004 is four times as great among people with college degrees. Larry Bartels supports the “opiate of the elites” argument, writing:

Chapter 3 of UNEQUAL DEMOCRACY reports estimates of the impact of various issue preferences on presidential votes among high-, middle-, and low-income white voters. The estimated weight of abortion from 1984-2004 is twice as great for whites in the top third of the income distribution as for those in the bottom third. The increase in the estimated weight of abortion over those 20 years is substantial for the top third and zero for the bottom third. And in 2004, the estimated weight of a “cultural issues” scale including abortion (along with gay marriage, gender roles, etc.) is twice as great for the top third as for the bottom third.

If you prefer education as a measure of “elite” status, my 2006 piece in QJPS on “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” reports parallel analyses differentiating white voters with and without college degrees. From 1984-2004, the weight of abortion is twice as great among people with college degrees. The increase in the estimated weight of abortion over that 20 year period is almost twice as great among people with college degrees. And the estimated weight of abortion in 2004 is four times as great among people with college degrees.

]]> By: Boris http://redbluerichpoor.com/blog/2008/10/religion-and-social-issues-as-the-opiate-of-the-elites-conflicting-evidence/comment-page-1/#comment-841 Boris Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:26:25 +0000 http://redbluerichpoor.com/blog/?p=134#comment-841 On the measurement issue, see Ansolabehere et al's recent piece in the previous AJPS. You really really want to do multiple measures, either by simple averaging or by more sophisticated techniques like ideal point estimation, both of which we use in the book. On the measurement issue, see Ansolabehere et al’s recent piece in the previous AJPS. You really really want to do multiple measures, either by simple averaging or by more sophisticated techniques like ideal point estimation, both of which we use in the book.

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