Continuity and Change in Veterans' Political Party Affiliation, 1974-2012

• In Event: 594 - Section on Political Sociology Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Section on Political Sociology Roundtables (one-hour). Table 01. Parties and Networks

Abstract

American veterans vote with greater frequency than their non-veteran peers, making their party affiliation tendencies politically important. Previous cross-sectional studies and non-scientific opinion polls have noted a general tendency for American veterans to prefer political self-identification as Republicans. However, a systematic look at continuity and change within veteran political party affiliation across a broad time period has been previously neglected. In this study, we consider veteran political party affiliation between 1974 and 2012 using data from each wave of the General Social Survey that included a question about whether respondents had served in the military. Our analyses reveal a general trend among veterans toward Republican affiliation from 1974 to 1994 but a countervailing trend of diminishing Republican affiliation in 2010 and 2012. We also find that, while length of service is not significantly associated with party affiliation, conscription eligibility is significantly associated with party affiliation. Non-conscription-eligible veterans were more likely to self-identify as Republican than conscription-eligible veterans. Our findings highlight the need for future research on veteran party affiliation to determine whether the recent trend we evidence away from Republican affiliation is a harbinger of deeper structural change or a temporary anomaly.

Authors

• Steven Larrimore Foy, University of Texas-Pan American

• Steven Michael Frenk, National Center for Health Statistics