Misidentified Partisans: True independents or affective leaners

• In Event: Partisanship, Non-Partisan, and Electoral Democracy

Brief Overview

Respondents who neither identify as partisans nor lean towards a party are called true independents. Many true independents express warmer feelings towards one party. We term this affective lean. Affective leaners' political preference are partisan.

Authors

• Kyle L McWagner, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

• Melina Much, University of California-Irvine