The origins of opinion of American party activists

In this paper, I test two hypotheses about the origin of opinion of partisa n activists. The first is a rational-choice thesis that states that due to electoral considerations, activists will adopt positions on issues that cor respond to where they believe voters to stand on those issues. The competin g hypothesis is based on the influence of contenders for the parties' presi dential nomination. This hypothesis predicts that just as candidates play a role in activating segments of the party to participate in the nomination process, they also influence the views held by those activists. Using data from the 1988 and 1992 Convention Delegate Studies, I conduct tests of thes e hypotheses. The results point toward a candidate-motivation explanation f or the origin of opinion of party activists. The implications of these find ings are that the information about politics that flows to the mass citizen ry is influenced by the candidates who choose to seek the party's nominatio n and, in the process, activate segments of the party that will then serve as the opinion leaders in society.