A Theory of “Motivated Partisan Legitimation”

• In Event: 2229 - Section on Political Sociology Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Political Sociology Refereed Roundtable #6

Abstract

How do non-elite agents reason in order to legitimate their partisan political activities—such as actions, judgments, and opinions? Responding to this question requires us to bridge literatures on motivated reasoning, political legitimacy, and moral psychology in order to theorize a three-phase process of “motivated partisan legitimation.” First, affective drives and moral intuitions animate agents’ allegiance to a given political party and lead agents to resonate with partisan elements of collective political discourse. Second, through political socialization agents internalize elements of collective political discourse in a manner that is biased by their partisan allegiance. Third, driven by partisan allegiance, citizens publicly rationalize—and by extension legitimate—their partisan activities by appealing to elements of internalized political discourse that seem most useful given the social context. These partisan rationalizations often serve as personal narratives that seem factual to rationalizers while simultaneously socially reaffirming their party’s legitimacy.

Author

• Luis Antonio Vila-Henninger, Université catholique de Louvain