From Party Voting To Regional Fragmentation

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Abstract
An examination of House roll call voting from 1933 to 1956 shows that heavily partisan voting during the 1930s gave way by the early 1950s to voting strongly influenced by region. The regional fragmentation is, in part, due to the development of new, party- splitting issues. The Republican split on international involvement and the Democratic split on civil liberties can be accounted for by historic differences in regional culture. The change in voting alignments on the government management and social welfare dimen sions cannot be explained by a change in the type of legislation coming to a vote. In these issue domains the 1930s were the period of nonincremental policy change. The blurring of party lines occurs during a period of normal politics. Burnham's theory offers the most satisfactory explanation. Party realignments are characterized by highly partisan voting alignments in the Congress. Once the crisis which precipitated the realignment is per ceived to be over, however, centrifugal constituency related forces again became predomi nant and the sharp differences between the parties become blurred.

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