The Impact of Political Party Affiliation Strength and Party Alignment on Perceptions of Bipartisan Candidates

Political polarization in the United States, or the ideological divide between the two major parties, is at an all-time high, making bipartisan cooperation both increasingly rare and critically important. This study investigated how voter perception of bipartisan candidates is shaped by party alignment (co-party vs. opposing-party), candidate partisanship (partisan vs. bipartisan), and voter partisanship strength (weak vs. strong). Two experiments were conducted using mock newspaper articles about a hypothetical congressional candidate. In Experiment 1, the candidate supported a neutral policy (education), while in Experiment 2, the candidate addressed a polarizing issue (gun control). Results from Experiment 1 showed that bipartisan candidates were rated significantly more favorably than partisan candidates, regardless of voter partisanship strength and party alignment. However, in Experiment 2, bipartisanship was no longer as strongly preferred. Participants favored co-party partisan candidates and opposing-party bipartisan candidates, suggesting that party loyalty influenced perceptions when the issue was politically charged. These findings suggest that while bipartisanship is broadly appealing in non-polarized contexts, its impact is highly contingent on issue and party alignment. Candidates may benefit from promoting bipartisan behavior on bipartisan issues, but risk losing loyal party voters when doing so on divisive topics.

美国的政治极化，亦即两大政党之间的意识形态鸿沟，已达到历史最高水平，这使得两党合作既愈发罕见，又至关重要。本研究考察了选民对跨党派（bipartisan）候选人的认知如何受三类因素塑造：政党立场（同党 vs. 反对党）、候选人党派倾向（党派化（partisan）vs. 跨党派（bipartisan）），以及选民党派认同强度（弱 vs. 强）。本研究采用针对假想国会候选人的模拟新闻报道开展了两项实验。实验1中，候选人支持一项中性政策（教育）；实验2中，候选人则针对一个极化议题（枪支管控）展开论述。实验1结果显示，无论选民党派认同强度与政党立场如何，跨党派候选人的评分均显著高于党派化候选人。然而在实验2中，跨党派身份的优势不再如此显著。参与者更青睐同党派的党派化候选人以及反对党的跨党派候选人，这表明当议题带有政治倾向性时，政党忠诚度会影响选民认知。这些研究结果表明，尽管跨党派身份在非极化情境中具有广泛吸引力，但其影响力高度依赖于议题类型与政党立场。候选人若在跨党派议题中展现跨党派行为或将获益，但在分歧性议题中如此行事则可能失去本党忠实选民的支持。