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Conservatives are more likely than liberals to support the concept of federalism. In this article, we look at this support in the context of particular issues. Using multiple national surveys, including an original module on the 2020 Congressional Election Study, we find that conservatives are more likely to prefer a devolution of power to state and local jurisdictions, even if doing so might make it harder to achieve conservative policy aims, whereas liberals are more instrumental, more likely to prioritize policy aims and to support whichever level of government seems most likely to achieve them. We then examine reasons why conservatives might display a stronger adherence to the federalist structure of the American government. We find that the idea of "states' rights" continues to loom large for self-identified conservatives, as does a generalized level of trust toward political units described as small versus large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on ways to enable acceptance of comprise among rank-and-file voters. It explores two alternative approaches that can enable public support for compromise such as bipartisan legislation based on gains from trade and preference of ideologues to prevent harmful impacts of compromise. Surveys from rank-and-file partisans on hypothetical compromise reveals reluctance to compromise in terms of conservative perspectives; thus, influence the less favor of rank-and-file Republicans to compromise than Democrats. It also says that the best strategy to enable compromise between Democrat and Republicans is to avoid negotiated results, showing one or more party being at loss.