title: Political polarization on support for government spending on environmental protection in the USA, 1974-2012.
abstract: Since the early 1990s, the American conservative movement has become increasingly hostile toward environmental protection and Congressional Republicans have become increasingly anti-environmental in their voting records. Party sorting theory holds that such political polarization among elites will likely extend to the general public. Analyzing General Social Survey data from 1974 to 2012, we examine whether political polarization has occurred on support for government spending on environmental protection over this time period in the US general public. We find that there has been significant partisan and ideological polarization on support for environmental spending since 1992-consistent with the expectations of party sorting theory. This political polarization on environmental concern in the general public will likely endure save for political convergence on environmental concern among elites in the near future. Such polarization likely will inhibit the further development and implementation of environmental policy and the diffusion of environmentally friendly behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Lyman Briggs College and Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, 919 East Shaw Lane, E-35 Holmes Hall, East Lansing, MI 48825, USA. Electronic address: mccright@msu.edu.
authors.forename: Aaron M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: McCright
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016, USA. Electronic address: xiao@american.edu.
authors.forename: Chenyang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Oklahoma State University, 431 Murray, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA. Electronic address: riley.dunlap@okstate.edu.
authors.forename: Riley E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Dunlap
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000191:economics*; D003625:Data Collection; D058735:Environmental Policy; D005260:Female; D005380:Financing, Government; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011057:Politics; D011639:Public Opinion; D014481:United States
keywords: Environmental concern; Ordered logistic regression; Political polarization; Public opinion; US General Social Survey