1. Political Extremism--Left, Center, and Right.
- Author
-
Smith, Robert B.
- Subjects
RADICALISM ,POLITICAL doctrines ,POLITICAL sociology ,EMPIRICAL research ,RIGHT & left (Political science) ,POLITICAL participation - Abstract
This paper formalizes Lipset's theory of political extremism and applies its axioms and derivations to guide empirical research. A latent structure analysis of measures of the issues from a survey of the 1992 U.S. electorate produced a three-class Left-Center-Right classification of voters. Given that ideological consistency may indicate a propensity toward political extremism, this study finds that this propensity now is strongest in the Right class and not in the Left and Center classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2003
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