There is no one reason why there
are so many cleavages in public opinion. One thing that is for sure
though, is that they overlap and crisscross in about everyway
possible. Today, cleavages are formed from differences in the
following aspects:
Social
class--"Class" is a
confusing terms. These days, no one knows quite how to define it.
Is it based on occupation? Education? Wealth? Social status? With
each different interpretation of "class," comes a different way to
group people. One thing is for sure though, "class" voting is less
common in the US than in Europe and has declined lately causing
the voting patterns of different social classes to become more
similar. Some differences remain though. Unskilled workers are
more likely than white-collar workers to be Democrats and
economically liberal, for instance. Social class defined along
income lines has become less definitive recently due to increased
schooling and the fact that issues that lead us to select a party
or ideology have become less economic based.
Race and
ethnicity--Race has become
a more clear-cut cleavage. Blacks and whites, for example, differ
greatly on school busing for racial balance, the death penalty,
national health insurance and how to remedy the effects of past
racial discrimination. They do, however, agree on other issues
such as searching homes of known drug dealers without a warrant,
opposing woman's right to abortion on demand and opposing
legalization of marijuana as well as opposing specific quotas for
integration. Blacks are the most liberal group within the
Democratic party lately. There also seems to be less class
cleavage among blacks than whites. Latinos identify themselves as
Democrats while Asian-Americans identify themselves with the
Republican party.
Region--Southerners
and northerners tend to disagree on many political issues. The
former being more conservative than the latter. The South,
however, used to be predominantly Democratic because they were
less liberal than those of other regions on issues such as aid to
minorities, school busing and the legalization of marijuana. Today
the political views of white southerners are less distinct from
the rest of the country. One reason why southerners differ in
opinion is their lifestyle. The South has traditionally been more
business oriented than labor union oriented. Southerners have
become less associated with the Democratic party in the last few
decades. No Democratic president could have been elected, except
Lyndon Johnson, though, without the votes of the
South.