Social Conservatism, New Republicans, and the 1980 Election

Abstract

Using data from the 1980 National Election Study, we examine the claims (1) that those voters who shifted to Ronald Reagan in 1980 (“New Republicans”) were drawn disproportionately from the lower to middle strata of the population: (2) that they were social conservatives motivated by issues like abortion and ERA: and (3) that they were more religious and alienated from the federal government than average. Our results strongly suggest that all of these assertions are false and thus question the emergence of a “neopopulist” or “Middle American Radical” political constituency on the right wing of American politics. Our findings also have implications for prominent theories about conservative political movements and about the changing nature of party politics in a postindustrial society.