Replication Data for: Does Moral Rhetoric Fuel or Reduce Divides Between Parties and Non-Copartisan Voters?

Political parties at times use moral appeals to voters outside of their support base, i.e., non-copartisan voters. Yet, morality is typically considered a divisive force in politics. Does moral rhetoric actually alleviate or exacerbate divides between parties and non-copartisan voters? The paper addresses this question by focusing on non-copartisans' attitudes toward the party. Insights from previous work on moral persuasion and attitudinal bias suggest a conflicting picture. On the one hand, moral rhetoric is likely to make morally aligned non-copartisans more favorable toward the party. On the other hand, moral rhetoric is unlikely to make even the morally aligned favorable toward the party. In fact, moral rhetoric may further push away non-copartisans with pre-existing hostility. Using original, representative survey experiments from Britain, the paper finds that moral rhetoric can increase favorable attitudes and that it does not further promote hostility. Morality in party competition does not necessarily fuel division.