Political Culture and the Partisan Style of State Party Activists

Abstract

Daniel J. Elazar's classification of political subcultures is used to explain cross-state variation in the partisan style of political party activists. It is hypothesized that party activists are more ideologically purist in moralistic states and more pragmatic in individualistic states. A survey of the partisan style of state party-committee members in twenty states supports this hypothesis. Although the majority of committee members tends toward the purist model of party activism, activists in the moralistic states are significantly more purist than their counterparts in the individualistic states.