Team Edward vs. Team Jacob
Partisanship is defined as an affiliation with political parties as Green et al. mentions in the reading “Partisan Hearts and Minds”. This reading talks about how there are many indicators of identification for people that are immediately noticeable but once the topic of party identification comes up people side with their party groups almost immediately, most likely you could’ve guessed it based on their race, religion, gender, and social class. “Partisan groups—Democrats and Republicans—remain important objects of social identification” (Green 4). Green, Palmquist, and Schickler discussed and came to the conclusion that “people continue to identify as partisans, continue to vote on the basis of these identifications, and seem to cheer for one of the parties” (20).
Brooks and Manza’s study “investigates the claim that political cleavages arising out of social group memberships have declined and analyzing the magnitude of and interrelationship among four major social cleavages—race, religion, class, and gender—in U.S. presidential candidates since 1960” (937). They found that the race cleavage “increased considerably since 1960 and the gender cleavage more modestly during this period” (Brooks et al 937). This study also came to the conclusion that “the overall social cleavage has been stable during this period” (937).
As I read these articles one example of how people stick to their guns and won’t switch sides came to mind. We all remember the middle school hype of Twilight and how if you were Team Edward and your best friend was Team Jacob, you got into heated debates and refused to switch your side because you were convinced your team was in fact, the best. You never knew by looking at someone which side they were on but get them talking about it and you found out immediately. Even when we saw Edward betray and abandon Bella, no one dared switch sides. Jacob even saved the day and got Bella out of her funk but still, the groups remained stable and loyal. As Green, Palmquist, and Shickler said “we find party identification to be stable amid changes in party fortunes” (11), no matter the sticky situation either side/party seemed to be in, loyalty to one’s side remains stable.
