Party Elites in the United States, 1978: Democratic Mid-Term Conference Delegates

This dataset was designed to provide information on the
personal and political backgrounds, political attitudes, and relevant
behavior of party leaders. Data are presented on delegates to the 1978
Democratic Mid-Term Party Conference. Questions focus on the
"representativeness" of the party elites who are selected to go to
such conferences and also probe for the views of the delegates on a
number of important issues related to the "reform" era in the
political party and for their opinions on what a national party is and
should be. The representation of minorities and females in the process
received particular attention as did a comparison of the views of the
party professionals. Specific variables include characterization of the
respondent's political beliefs on the liberal-conservative scale,
length of time the respondent had been active in the Democratic party,
and respondent's opinions on minorities in the party, party unity,
national- and local-level party strength, party loyalty, and future
direction for the party. In addition, data are provided on the
respondent's opinions on certain provisions of the party's Charter.
Demographic characteristics are supplied as well.