Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science, discusses stereotyping and partisan politics with Minnesota Public Radio for their two-part series "Are all Democrats liberal elites and are all Republicans rich?" Gadarian argues that stereotypes are a difficulty of a two-party system in which people who disagree with some of the views of their party have two options -- change attitudes or switch parties.

"We have evidence that people actually will change their opinions on things like abortion based on the parties that they belong to. … If their party comes first, they will then adjust their positions on other issues. Potentially they might change parties, but that’s actually less usual than people adopting new positions based on the party that they belong to.”

As a result, applying a stereotype "is usually efficient. But it does leave out folks who don't exactly fit with the party on all issues."

04/27/18