Class Polarization in Partisanship among Native Southern Whites, 1952-90

Multivariate analyses of National Elections Studies data reveal that class-based partisanship of native southern whites, absent or inverted in the past, has surfaced in the past 15 years. In the 1950s, the higher the status of a native southern white, the more likely the individual was to identify as a Democrat. No clear class basis for partisanship prevailed in the 1960s and early 1970s. Since the mid-1970s, class polarization typical of the rest of the nation has characterized native southern whites, with higher status individuals favoring Republican identification.