Independents won’t turn out – strongly avoid political engagement

In their research, Klar and her co-author, Yanna Krupnikov of Stony Brook University, found that exposing people who identified with a party to news coverage of partisan battles in Washington did make them more likely to identify as independent. But that didn’t mean they lost their previous partisan identity; they just became more inclined to hide it. “They’re not actually changing their views on politics,” said Klar. “[Independents] are simply recusing themselves from publicly identifying themselves as a partisan.”

In other words, many Americans are so dissatisfied with politics and turned off by how ugly and partisan it has become that they now refuse to openly identify with either party — even though most still consistently back one party. This is troubling because it suggests that Americans not only are less willing to share their political beliefs but also no longer engage in politics in ways that go beyond just voting — developments that have negative ramifications for the health of our democracy.

“[Independents are] not going to put up yard signs, they’re not going to volunteer, they’re not going to work the phone banks, they’re not going to tell their colleagues and their friends who to vote for, they’re not going to extol the virtues of their favorite candidate to their neighbors,” said Klar. 

Now, that might not sound like a big deal — it’s not as though campaigns have trouble reaching people online or through TV ads — but Klar and Krupnikov argue in their book that this lack of engagement can damage political parties at the grassroots level.