Plitical scienceIndependent - Essay Example

Party identification as "Independent" often misleads Party identification de s the long term psychological association with a party. It also refers to partisanship, which is more than legal party affiliation but a reflection of the voter. Political scientists consider individuals association with political parties as relatively stable throughout the life of an electorate and an individual. Party identification originates from the emergency of survey tools in the mid 20th century. One of such survey tool is the National Election Study (NES) conducted in elections since the year 1948.

NES examines relationships among attributes, attitudes and political activities. The Individuals attitudes and associations with political parties are key elements of the NES since its inception (Welch 190). NES uses a series of questions to measure party identification. The questionnaire asks respondents to identify themselves with the Republicans, Democrats or any other political party, or if the individual considers herself or himself as independent of party affiliation. Respondents that identify themselves as Democrats or Republicans are later asked if they consider their party affiliations as weak or strong.

The respondents, who consider themselves independent, provide answers to questions if they associate with one party or the other. The series of questions asked produces a seven category scale. The scale classifies respondents as weak Republicans, strong Republicans, independent voters leaning towards Republicans and Pure independents. It also categorizes voters as weak Democrats, weak democrats or independent voters leaning towards democrats. This measurement scale forms the standard measure of party identification (Sabato and Howard 256).

The seven-point scale categorization provides information about an individual’s party attachment in various ways. The scale classifies Individuals along their party identification or lack of identification with a party, the intensity of individual’s partisan association, or if not attached to a party, whether they associate with one party or the other. A series of party identification survey shows significant growth in the number of independents since the year 1960. In the years 1990, 2000, 2002, surveys showed independents being more than Democrats or Republicans.

The reduction in partisanship coincides with the increase in independents, which suggest that individuals move from partisanship to independence rather than defect from one party to another (Sabato and Howard 256). Why is party identification as "Independent" often misleading? The high percentage of voters calling themselves as independent is misleading in certain aspects. Surveys such as those conducted by the University of Michigan’s Center for Political Studies show that apart from party identifiers, who considers themselves as weak or strong, there are some independents that associate with Republicans or Democrats.

The independents will either vote for Republicans or Democrats. Therefore, there are no party identifies that are absolutely independent. To a larger extent, approximately 90% of the voters identify with one or other parties (Grant 198). Some voters that consider themselves independent constitute the conflicted centrists. These individuals are closer to the Democrats on social issues but closer to the Republicans in their Skepticism on the ruling government. The independents are not politically stable but instead move from one party to the other.

The independent add up to not more than 10% of the voters. Most of the independents at one point feel some attachment to one party and vote for that party candidate. These voters consider themselves independents because the media glorifies independence and many people declare partisanship. Therefore, the increase in independents is just apparent and not a real situation (Welch 194). During the 2013 elections, President Barrack Obama won the election by a majority swing. However, an analysis of exit poll data shows that Obama lost the independent vote from states that voted for him in 2008.

Independent voters constitute a fast growing and crucial block in deciding US elections. An info graphic by marketing technology company Cognitive Match showed that Obama got less independent vote in nine battleground states in 2012 than in 2008. These states include Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and Wisconsin. In 2008, the independent voters supported Obama in large numbers. The independent voter became dissatisfied with President Obama job performance later and shifted to the Republicans side.

Prior to the 2012 general election, the independent voters largely supported the Republicans giving them a lead in US preliminaries causing the Democrats trouble. This provides a lesson for any potential presidential candidate in US never to ignore the independent vote as they form a fast growing voting bloc. The regarding of voters as independent is misleading since; this emanates from the fact that no individual can be regarded or considered politically neutral (Flock par. 1). Works Cited Flock, Elizabeth.

INFOGRAPHICS: Obama Lost Independent Vote in Almost Every Swing State, 2012. Web. 23rd April 2013. http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington whispers/2012/11/13/infographic-obama-lost-the-independent-vote-in-almost-every swing-state#recent_posts Grant, Alan R. The American political process: Edition 7 illustrated. London: Routledge, 2004. Print. Sabato, Larry, and Howard R. Ernst. Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections. New York: Facts on File, 2007. Print. Welch, Susan. Understanding American Government: [no Separate Policy Chapters Version].

Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.