Steven W Webster
Biographic Data
| ID | 3619498 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Steven W Webster |
| GIVEN NAMES | Steven W |
| FAMILY NAME | Webster |
| SIGNATURE | WEBSTER S W |
| AFFILIATIONS | Indiana University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8280-0199 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 900 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
You’re Making Us Look Bad: Can Partisan Embarrassment Dampen Partisanship and Polarization
Partisan elites and members of the public often have attitudes or engage in behavior that could embarrass copartisans. We examine this occurrence—what we call partisan embarrassment—by investigating how much partisans report feeling this embarrassment, what types of scenarios embarrass partisans, what types of partisans feel this embarrassment, and what the political ramifications of partisan embarrassment could be. We expect that when a copartis…
Partisan schadenfreude and candidate cruelty
We establish the prevalence of partisan schadenfreude—that is, taking “joy in the suffering” of partisan others. Analyzing attitudes on health care, taxation, climate change, and the coronavirus pandemic, we find that a sizable portion of the American mass public engages in partisan schadenfreude and that these attitudes are most expressed by those who are ideologically extreme. Additionally, we find that a sizable portion of the American public …
Stacy Ulbig. Angry Politics: Partisan Hatred and Political Polarization among College Students
In Angry Politics, Stacy Ulbig analyzes how college students engage with the political world. Through an analysis of novel data, Ulbig demonstrates that partisan animosity and anger can be found in ample amounts on college campuses. Accordingly, her main argument is that the vitriol exhibited in American politics today is attributable to the socializing experiences of college students. As “tomorrow’s activists, voters, and officeholders” who “mig…
Through the ideology of the beholder: How Ideology Shapes Perceptions of Partisan Groups
Growing attitudinal and affective differences across party lines and increasing social polarization are often attributed to the strengthening of partisanship as a social identity. Scholars have paid less attention to personal preferences as a contributor to these phenomena. Our focus is on how citizens’ policy beliefs—their operational ideologies—are associated with their views of partisan groups. We examine our perspective with two studies. In t…
All (Mayoral) Politics Is Local
One of the defining characteristics of modern politics in the United States is the increasing nationalization of elite- and voter-level behavior. Relying on measures of electoral vote shares, previous research has found evidence indicating a significant amount of state-level nationalization. Using an alternative source of data—the political rhetoric used by mayors, state governors, and members of Congress on Twitter—we examine and compare the amo…
The Social Consequences of Political Anger
A functioning democracy relies on social interactions between people who disagree—including listening to others' viewpoints, having political discussions, and finding political compromise. Yet social life in the contemporary United States is characterized by a relative lack of interaction between Democrats and Republicans (or, social polarization). We argue that political anger contributes to social polarization by causing Americans to cut off ti…
Crime and Presidential Accountability
Americans are anxious about crime regardless of their actual exposure or risk. Given this pervasive concern, US presidents frequently talk about crime, take actions to address it, and list crime prevention efforts among their top accomplishments. We argue that presidents act this way, in part, because fear of crime translates into lowered presidential approval. However, this penalty is not applied evenly. Given the parties' stances toward crime a…
Emotion and Politics: Noncognitive Psychological Biases in Public Opinion
Contemporary politics is noteworthy for its emotional character. Emotions shape and, in turn, are elicited by partisan polarization, public opinion, and political attitudes. In this article, we outline recent work in the field of emotion and politics with an emphasis on the relationship between emotion and polarization, issue attitudes, information processing, and views on democratic governance. We also highlight a growing body of scholarship tha…
American Rage: How Anger Shapes Our Politics
American Rage argues that anger is the central emotion governing contemporary US politics, with powerful, deleterious effects. Tracing the developments that have given rise to a culture of anger in the mass public, the book sheds new light on both public opinion and voting behavior. Steven W. Webster skillfully uses a combination of novel datasets, new measures of anger, and a series of experiments to show how anger causes citizens to lose trust …
Does residential sorting explain geographic polarization
Political preferences in the United States are highly correlated with population density, at national, state, and metropolitan-area scales. Using new data from voter registration records, we assess the extent to which this pattern can be explained by geographic mobility. We find that the revealed preferences of voters who move from one residence to another correlate with partisan affiliation, though voters appear to be sorting on non-political ne…
Older, Younger, or More Similar? The Use of Age as a Voting Heuristic
Objective The descriptive representation literature has found that individuals prefer to vote for candidates who share similar characteristics as themselves. However, the relationship between the age of a voter and the age of a candidate is a gap in the literature that remains to be filled. The objective of this study is to examine such relationships. Methods Utilizing the 2010 and 2012 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, along with indepen…
The Polarizers: Postwar Architects of Our Partisan Era
As the signal characteristic of contemporary American politics, the extent to which Americans have become polarized along partisan and ideological lines has received a considerable amount of scholarly attention. Yet while most studies focus on the role of demographic changes or racial attitudes in producing this polarization, Sam Rosenfeld takes a different approach. In The Polarizers: Postwar Architects of Our Partisan Era, Rosenfeld cogently ar…
It’s Personal: The Big Five Personality Traits and Negative Partisan Affect in Polarized U.S. Politics
One of the most important developments within the American electorate in recent years has been the rise of affective polarization. Whether this is due to notions of group-based conflict or ideological disagreement, Americans increasingly dislike the opposing political party and its supporters. I contribute to this growing literature on affective polarization by showing how differences in individuals’ Big Five personality traits are predictive of …
Negative Partisanship: Why Americans Dislike Parties But Behave Like Rabid Partisans
One of the most important developments in American politics over the last 40 years has been the rise of negative partisanship—the phenomenon whereby Americans largely align against one party instead of affiliating with the other. Though it has the power to reshape patterns of political behavior, little is known about the microfoundations driving negative partisanship. In this article, we show how the growing racial divide between the two major pa…
Anger and Declining Trust in Government in the American Electorate
The Ideological Foundations of Affective Polarization in the U.S. Electorate
Democratic and Republican partisans dislike the opposing party and its leaders far more than in the past. However, recent studies have argued that the rise of affective polarization in the electorate does not reflect growing policy or ideological differences between supporters of the two parties. According to this view, though Democratic and Republican elites are sharply divided along ideological lines, differences between the policy preferences …
The rise of negative partisanship and the nationalization of U.S. elections in the 21st century
The rise of negative partisanship and the nationalization of U.S. elections in the 21st century
Negative Partisanship: Why Americans Dislike Parties But Behave Like Rabid Partisans
One of the most important developments in American politics over the last 40 years has been the rise of negative partisanship—the phenomenon whereby Americans largely align against one party instead of affiliating with the other. Though it has the power to reshape patterns of political behavior, little is known about the microfoundations driving negative partisanship. In this article, we show how the growing racial divide between the two major pa…
The Ideological Foundations of Affective Polarization in the U.S. Electorate
Democratic and Republican partisans dislike the opposing party and its leaders far more than in the past. However, recent studies have argued that the rise of affective polarization in the electorate does not reflect growing policy or ideological differences between supporters of the two parties. According to this view, though Democratic and Republican elites are sharply divided along ideological lines, differences between the policy preferences …
Does residential sorting explain geographic polarization
Political preferences in the United States are highly correlated with population density, at national, state, and metropolitan-area scales. Using new data from voter registration records, we assess the extent to which this pattern can be explained by geographic mobility. We find that the revealed preferences of voters who move from one residence to another correlate with partisan affiliation, though voters appear to be sorting on non-political ne…
Emotion and Politics: Noncognitive Psychological Biases in Public Opinion
Contemporary politics is noteworthy for its emotional character. Emotions shape and, in turn, are elicited by partisan polarization, public opinion, and political attitudes. In this article, we outline recent work in the field of emotion and politics with an emphasis on the relationship between emotion and polarization, issue attitudes, information processing, and views on democratic governance. We also highlight a growing body of scholarship tha…
Anger and Declining Trust in Government in the American Electorate
Older, Younger, or More Similar? The Use of Age as a Voting Heuristic
Objective The descriptive representation literature has found that individuals prefer to vote for candidates who share similar characteristics as themselves. However, the relationship between the age of a voter and the age of a candidate is a gap in the literature that remains to be filled. The objective of this study is to examine such relationships. Methods Utilizing the 2010 and 2012 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, along with indepen…
The Social Consequences of Political Anger
A functioning democracy relies on social interactions between people who disagree—including listening to others' viewpoints, having political discussions, and finding political compromise. Yet social life in the contemporary United States is characterized by a relative lack of interaction between Democrats and Republicans (or, social polarization). We argue that political anger contributes to social polarization by causing Americans to cut off ti…
It’s Personal: The Big Five Personality Traits and Negative Partisan Affect in Polarized U.S. Politics
One of the most important developments within the American electorate in recent years has been the rise of affective polarization. Whether this is due to notions of group-based conflict or ideological disagreement, Americans increasingly dislike the opposing political party and its supporters. I contribute to this growing literature on affective polarization by showing how differences in individuals’ Big Five personality traits are predictive of …
Partisan schadenfreude and candidate cruelty
We establish the prevalence of partisan schadenfreude—that is, taking “joy in the suffering” of partisan others. Analyzing attitudes on health care, taxation, climate change, and the coronavirus pandemic, we find that a sizable portion of the American mass public engages in partisan schadenfreude and that these attitudes are most expressed by those who are ideologically extreme. Additionally, we find that a sizable portion of the American public …
All (Mayoral) Politics Is Local
One of the defining characteristics of modern politics in the United States is the increasing nationalization of elite- and voter-level behavior. Relying on measures of electoral vote shares, previous research has found evidence indicating a significant amount of state-level nationalization. Using an alternative source of data—the political rhetoric used by mayors, state governors, and members of Congress on Twitter—we examine and compare the amo…
Through the ideology of the beholder: How Ideology Shapes Perceptions of Partisan Groups
Growing attitudinal and affective differences across party lines and increasing social polarization are often attributed to the strengthening of partisanship as a social identity. Scholars have paid less attention to personal preferences as a contributor to these phenomena. Our focus is on how citizens’ policy beliefs—their operational ideologies—are associated with their views of partisan groups. We examine our perspective with two studies. In t…
Crime and Presidential Accountability
Americans are anxious about crime regardless of their actual exposure or risk. Given this pervasive concern, US presidents frequently talk about crime, take actions to address it, and list crime prevention efforts among their top accomplishments. We argue that presidents act this way, in part, because fear of crime translates into lowered presidential approval. However, this penalty is not applied evenly. Given the parties' stances toward crime a…
The Polarizers: Postwar Architects of Our Partisan Era
As the signal characteristic of contemporary American politics, the extent to which Americans have become polarized along partisan and ideological lines has received a considerable amount of scholarly attention. Yet while most studies focus on the role of demographic changes or racial attitudes in producing this polarization, Sam Rosenfeld takes a different approach. In The Polarizers: Postwar Architects of Our Partisan Era, Rosenfeld cogently ar…
The rise of negative partisanship and the nationalization of U.S. elections in the 21st century
The Ideological Foundations of Affective Polarization in the U.S. Electorate
Democratic and Republican partisans dislike the opposing party and its leaders far more than in the past. However, recent studies have argued that the rise of affective polarization in the electorate does not reflect growing policy or ideological differences between supporters of the two parties. According to this view, though Democratic and Republican elites are sharply divided along ideological lines, differences between the policy preferences …
The Polarizers: Postwar Architects of Our Partisan Era
As the signal characteristic of contemporary American politics, the extent to which Americans have become polarized along partisan and ideological lines has received a considerable amount of scholarly attention. Yet while most studies focus on the role of demographic changes or racial attitudes in producing this polarization, Sam Rosenfeld takes a different approach. In The Polarizers: Postwar Architects of Our Partisan Era, Rosenfeld cogently ar…
It’s Personal: The Big Five Personality Traits and Negative Partisan Affect in Polarized U.S. Politics
One of the most important developments within the American electorate in recent years has been the rise of affective polarization. Whether this is due to notions of group-based conflict or ideological disagreement, Americans increasingly dislike the opposing political party and its supporters. I contribute to this growing literature on affective polarization by showing how differences in individuals’ Big Five personality traits are predictive of …
Negative Partisanship: Why Americans Dislike Parties But Behave Like Rabid Partisans
One of the most important developments in American politics over the last 40 years has been the rise of negative partisanship—the phenomenon whereby Americans largely align against one party instead of affiliating with the other. Though it has the power to reshape patterns of political behavior, little is known about the microfoundations driving negative partisanship. In this article, we show how the growing racial divide between the two major pa…
Anger and Declining Trust in Government in the American Electorate
Older, Younger, or More Similar? The Use of Age as a Voting Heuristic
Objective The descriptive representation literature has found that individuals prefer to vote for candidates who share similar characteristics as themselves. However, the relationship between the age of a voter and the age of a candidate is a gap in the literature that remains to be filled. The objective of this study is to examine such relationships. Methods Utilizing the 2010 and 2012 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, along with indepen…
American Rage: How Anger Shapes Our Politics
American Rage argues that anger is the central emotion governing contemporary US politics, with powerful, deleterious effects. Tracing the developments that have given rise to a culture of anger in the mass public, the book sheds new light on both public opinion and voting behavior. Steven W. Webster skillfully uses a combination of novel datasets, new measures of anger, and a series of experiments to show how anger causes citizens to lose trust …
Does residential sorting explain geographic polarization
Political preferences in the United States are highly correlated with population density, at national, state, and metropolitan-area scales. Using new data from voter registration records, we assess the extent to which this pattern can be explained by geographic mobility. We find that the revealed preferences of voters who move from one residence to another correlate with partisan affiliation, though voters appear to be sorting on non-political ne…
All (Mayoral) Politics Is Local
One of the defining characteristics of modern politics in the United States is the increasing nationalization of elite- and voter-level behavior. Relying on measures of electoral vote shares, previous research has found evidence indicating a significant amount of state-level nationalization. Using an alternative source of data—the political rhetoric used by mayors, state governors, and members of Congress on Twitter—we examine and compare the amo…
The Social Consequences of Political Anger
A functioning democracy relies on social interactions between people who disagree—including listening to others' viewpoints, having political discussions, and finding political compromise. Yet social life in the contemporary United States is characterized by a relative lack of interaction between Democrats and Republicans (or, social polarization). We argue that political anger contributes to social polarization by causing Americans to cut off ti…
Crime and Presidential Accountability
Americans are anxious about crime regardless of their actual exposure or risk. Given this pervasive concern, US presidents frequently talk about crime, take actions to address it, and list crime prevention efforts among their top accomplishments. We argue that presidents act this way, in part, because fear of crime translates into lowered presidential approval. However, this penalty is not applied evenly. Given the parties' stances toward crime a…
Emotion and Politics: Noncognitive Psychological Biases in Public Opinion
Contemporary politics is noteworthy for its emotional character. Emotions shape and, in turn, are elicited by partisan polarization, public opinion, and political attitudes. In this article, we outline recent work in the field of emotion and politics with an emphasis on the relationship between emotion and polarization, issue attitudes, information processing, and views on democratic governance. We also highlight a growing body of scholarship tha…
Stacy Ulbig. Angry Politics: Partisan Hatred and Political Polarization among College Students
In Angry Politics, Stacy Ulbig analyzes how college students engage with the political world. Through an analysis of novel data, Ulbig demonstrates that partisan animosity and anger can be found in ample amounts on college campuses. Accordingly, her main argument is that the vitriol exhibited in American politics today is attributable to the socializing experiences of college students. As “tomorrow’s activists, voters, and officeholders” who “mig…
Through the ideology of the beholder: How Ideology Shapes Perceptions of Partisan Groups
Growing attitudinal and affective differences across party lines and increasing social polarization are often attributed to the strengthening of partisanship as a social identity. Scholars have paid less attention to personal preferences as a contributor to these phenomena. Our focus is on how citizens’ policy beliefs—their operational ideologies—are associated with their views of partisan groups. We examine our perspective with two studies. In t…
Partisan schadenfreude and candidate cruelty
We establish the prevalence of partisan schadenfreude—that is, taking “joy in the suffering” of partisan others. Analyzing attitudes on health care, taxation, climate change, and the coronavirus pandemic, we find that a sizable portion of the American mass public engages in partisan schadenfreude and that these attitudes are most expressed by those who are ideologically extreme. Additionally, we find that a sizable portion of the American public …
You’re Making Us Look Bad: Can Partisan Embarrassment Dampen Partisanship and Polarization
Partisan elites and members of the public often have attitudes or engage in behavior that could embarrass copartisans. We examine this occurrence—what we call partisan embarrassment—by investigating how much partisans report feeling this embarrassment, what types of scenarios embarrass partisans, what types of partisans feel this embarrassment, and what the political ramifications of partisan embarrassment could be. We expect that when a copartis…
Political science (16 works) · Politics (16 works) · Electoral Systems and Political Participation (14 works) · Law (13 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Psychology (11 works) · Social Psychology (11 works) · Law (9 works) · Political economy (9 works) · Democracy (6 works)