Why Do We Prefer Copartisans? Study Reveals Surprising Political Divide

representation Political Behavior @AJPS 3 R files 9 Stata files 23 datasets Dataverse

Partisan attachments create an information gap beyond just citizens: politicians also filter perspectives.

Citizens prefer communicating with copartisan elected officials, avoiding outpartisans altogether.
Three studies (observational, field experiment, natural experiment) confirm this bias across the US political landscape.
This 'preaching to the choir' tendency creates a feedback loop that may fuel polarization by shielding politicians from diverse public viewpoints.

Article card for article: Preaching to the Choir: Americans Prefer Communicating to Copartisan Elected Officials

Preaching to the Choir: Americans Prefer Communicating to Copartisan Elected Officials was authored by David Broockman and Timothy J. Ryan. It was published by Wiley in AJPS in 2016.