Abstract
Generations can be useful for explaining cohort-level differences in partisan preferences. Yet a critical aspect of studying political generations is the selection of one period of dates instead of another. The common definitions of generations, popularized by the Pew Research Center, have been found to tell us a considerable amount about contemporary divides in American politics. Yet within the popular definitions of generations, age cohorts can diverge politically because their formative experiences are dissimilar. Subsets of generations can have their own political idiosyncrasies as their early experiences can differ in important ways. The traditional definition of the generations, therefore, may not be the best way to categorize generations in the USA from a political perspective. Reclassifying generational cohorts yields some important age-cohort political differences that get lost in the traditional definition of the generations, altering our perceptions of generational political attitudes. Such a categorization of the generations exhibits younger cohorts that are strongly Democratic and a middle-aged cohort that in recent presidential elections has moved strongly towards the Republicans. What stands out, however, is the politics of older Baby Boomers, who have emerged as Democratic leaning. Thus, unlike the traditional definitions of the generations, the alternative generational cohorts we present portray a generational divide that does not get consistently more Republican as one ages.
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Fisher, P. The Contemporary Generations in American Politics. Soc 60, 492–500 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-023-00849-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-023-00849-6