Partisan mountains and molehills: the geography of U.S. state intraparty factionalism

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https://doi.org/10.1177/153244000800800102

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https://doi.org/10.1177/153244000800800102
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/34528

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McTague, John

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2419-1609
 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6440-1098

Date

2008

Type of Work

journal articles
Text

Department

Towson University. Department of Political Science

Program

Citation of Original Publication

McTague, John and Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz. 2008. "Partisan Mountains and Molehills: The Geography of U.S. State Intraparty Factionalism." State Politics & Policy Quarterly 8 (Spring): 7-31.

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States

Subjects

Geographic distribution
Political party support -- United States
Key, V. O., Jr. (Valdimer Orlando), 1908-1963

Abstract

We 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.