Partisanship now trumps political parties’ ownership of issues among voters, except among independents

Throughout recent US political history, certain issues have been considered to be “owned” by either party, such as national defense for the Republican Party and healthcare and the environment for the Democratic Party. But what does the rise of partisan polarization mean for the importance of issue ownership by the parties? In new survey research, Jamie M. Wright, Scott Clifford and Elizabeth N. Simas find that partisanship now means that highlighting a party’s ownership of an issue is only meaningful to independent voters, with partisans already viewing their party of choice as being more competent on these issues.