Value Framing in Party Platforms, 1960-2016

• In Event: Shifts in Party Ideology

Abstract

Prior research finds that political parties can shape the way that citizens prioritize core values and relate them to salient controversies. Using automated text analysis, hand-coding, and close reading, we examine the major U.S. parties’ use of value framing in national platforms since the civil rights era. Our inquiry focuses on the prevalence and positioning of discourse about equality and individualism, the two ostensibly paramount values of the liberal tradition in America. We explore how rhetoric about these values has varied over this period and the extent of partisan differences in their use and meaning. Of particular interest is the role of race and ethnicity in determining when parties use, and decline to use, egalitarian and individualistic framings in their platforms.

Authors

• Rodney E. Hero, Arizona State University

• Morris E. Levy, University of Southern California