Volume 1Labels, sorting and partisan feeling

Party identification and ideological labels drew closer together in American surveys. The volume asks what the labels contain, in the United States and about 100 countries, how the alignment changed across birth cohorts, and how it differs from partisans' feelings toward the other party.

Volume 2Coalitions and political differences

Participation, group coalitions, issues and attitudes toward institutions and democracy, 1948 to 2024. Party gaps on these measures differ in size and timing, and some reverse with control of the presidency, so no single trend describes them.

Volume 3Votes, giving and places

Election returns, donor records and county data count different populations at different scales. The volume follows the vote from counties to precincts and down the ballot, compares donors with voters, and returns from places to the people who live in them.

Reading path

Income and class

8 chapters in reading order. A path is a way through the book that follows one question; every chapter also stands alone.

1
The income ladder
Chapter 3.5 in Part III, Participation and coalitions
In the CES the highest household-income bracket's Democratic share of the two-party presidential vote minus the lowest bracket's went from −9.1 points in 2008 to +5.7 in 2024.
DraftIndividualsces
2
Class, church and the two axes
Planned in Part I, Labels and beliefs
How do income, education and church attendance sort the economic and cultural dimensions?
PlannedIndividualsgssanes
3
Income and the county vote
Planned in Part VIII, Places and the people in them
Do richer counties vote more Democratic once education is held constant?
PlannedPlacescounty-returnscounty-demographicsces
4
Wages, capital and the ZIP code vote
Companion 8.1b in Part VIII, Places and the people in them
From 2016 to 2020, ZIP codes in the highest decile of capital-gains returns swung 5.4 points toward the Democrats and those in the highest decile of earned income tax credit returns 5.2 points toward the Republicans, links that depend on the controls.
DraftPlacesrlcrirs-soi
5
Deprivation and mobility
Planned in Part VIII, Places and the people in them
Does present-day deprivation or childhood mobility track the vote once race is held constant?
PlannedPlacesrlcradiopportunity-atlasces
6
System justification
Planned in Part I, Labels and beliefs
Do people with lower incomes believe in meritocracy less than those with higher incomes?
PlannedCountrieswvsgss
7
Occupation and donations
Planned in Part VII, Giving
How does donors' ideology vary by occupation?
PlannedIndividualsdime
8
The geography of donations
Planned in Part VII, Giving
Where do campaign dollars come from, and do county donor pools show the same education and income gradients as county votes?
PlannedPlacesdimecounty-demographicscounty-returns

All chapters