McTague, John
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Item Partisan mountains and molehills: the geography of U.S. state intraparty factionalism(Cambridge University Press, 2008) McTague, John; Pearson-Merkowitz, Shanna; Towson University. Department of Political ScienceWe examine whether the geographic distribution of a political party's electoral support affects the divisiveness of statewide primaries. In spite of V.O. Key, Jr.'s (1956) original insight that geography might be a relevant predictor of contested statewide primaries, this hypothesis has received little attention from political scientists. We test Key's hypothesis using data on gubernatorial and U.S. Senate elections to identify the effects of electoral geography on the structure of competition in primary elections. We contend that dispersed bases of electoral support greatly increase the costs associated with maintaining party cohesion. Our findings support the theory that a geographically dispersed electorate heightens the potential for intraparty factionalism. These results are robust across several measures of the dependent variable.Item Did the “war on women” work? women, men, and the birth control mandate in the 2012 presidential election(SAGE Publications, 2015-01) McTague, John; Deckman, Melissa; Towson University. Department of Political ScienceUsing a nationally representative data set (N = 3,000), the Public Religion Research Institute’s American Values Survey, we conduct multivariate regression analysis to determine the empirical impact of attitudes regarding the birth control mandate and abortion on presidential vote choice. We also conduct factor analysis to determine whether voters conceptualized the birth control mandate and abortion similarly. We find that support for the Obama administration’s birth control mandate was significantly related to voting for Obama for both women and men voters, although the impact was stronger for women. However, the impact of the “War on Women” rhetoric on voters’ choices was limited to the issue of insurance coverage for birth control rather than extending to the issue of abortion. Unlike attitudes about abortion, we find that voters conceptualized the birth control mandate less as a “culture war” issue and more as a “role of government” issue. Given this conceptualization of the mandate by voters, our findings reaffirm previous research that suggests that the gender gap in voting is largely driven by attitudinal differences regarding the role of government in providing social welfare benefits and equal opportunity for women.Item Politically themed residential learning communities as incubators of interest in government and politics(American Political Science Association, 2017) McTague, John; Towson University. Department of Political ScienceItem Religion, parties, and voting behavior: A political explanation of religious influence(Oxford University Press, 2009) McTague, John; Layman, Geoffrey C.; Towson University. Department of Political ScienceThis article tries to provide a political explanation of religious influence. The article begins by determining how the relationship of religion to politics and voting behavior has changed during the past 4 decades. It looks at why that change has occurred, even if the new religious divisions between the electoral coalitions of the parties are most likely to take shape. This is done by focusing on the dynamic relationship between the three parts of the American party system. The last portion of the article centers on challenges, caveats, and alternatives to the authors' framework.