How Does One's Party Identification Affect One's Views on the Legalization of Marijuana?
Disciplines
Political Science | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract (300 words maximum)
How does one’s party identification affect their views on marijuana legalization? This topic deserves further research because there has been a significant shift in attitudes toward the legalization of marijuana over the last decade. Opinions on marijuana have become less polarized, and more Republicans are beginning to show support for its legalization (Felson, Adamczyk, & Thomas, 2019). Understanding how one’s party identification influences attitudes on marijuana legalization can provide broader insights into political polarization in our country and our citizens’ perspectives on drug policy. I use the General Social Survey Cumulative Datafile dataset, focusing specifically on 2018 and 2022 for my research. My theory is that respondents who identify as Democrats are more likely to support the legalization of marijuana because the Democratic Party often advocates for drug law reform and highlights the economic benefits of legalization. Conversely, the Republican Party is more conservative and tends to promote stricter drug laws, so respondents who identify as Republicans are less likely to support the legalization of marijuana. Thus, I hypothesize that party identification will be strongly associated with views on marijuana legalization. However, as the debate around marijuana has become less divisive and Republicans have grown more open to legalization, I anticipate that this relationship will weaken between 2018 and 2022, so I compare the relationship between party identification and marijuana attitudes in these survey years. Using a Chi-square test, I find that marijuana attitudes are significantly related to partisan identification, but the relationship has weakened over time, specifically from 2018 to 2022. I conclude my project with directions for future research.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
RCHSS - Government and International Affairs
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Ben Taylor
How Does One's Party Identification Affect One's Views on the Legalization of Marijuana?
How does one’s party identification affect their views on marijuana legalization? This topic deserves further research because there has been a significant shift in attitudes toward the legalization of marijuana over the last decade. Opinions on marijuana have become less polarized, and more Republicans are beginning to show support for its legalization (Felson, Adamczyk, & Thomas, 2019). Understanding how one’s party identification influences attitudes on marijuana legalization can provide broader insights into political polarization in our country and our citizens’ perspectives on drug policy. I use the General Social Survey Cumulative Datafile dataset, focusing specifically on 2018 and 2022 for my research. My theory is that respondents who identify as Democrats are more likely to support the legalization of marijuana because the Democratic Party often advocates for drug law reform and highlights the economic benefits of legalization. Conversely, the Republican Party is more conservative and tends to promote stricter drug laws, so respondents who identify as Republicans are less likely to support the legalization of marijuana. Thus, I hypothesize that party identification will be strongly associated with views on marijuana legalization. However, as the debate around marijuana has become less divisive and Republicans have grown more open to legalization, I anticipate that this relationship will weaken between 2018 and 2022, so I compare the relationship between party identification and marijuana attitudes in these survey years. Using a Chi-square test, I find that marijuana attitudes are significantly related to partisan identification, but the relationship has weakened over time, specifically from 2018 to 2022. I conclude my project with directions for future research.