ABSTRACT
The relationship between party allegiance, voting behavior, and alignment on national issues has been a popular research topic for students of American political behavior. Major partisan divisions characterizing America's political field do not significantly influence the child's orientations toward the system and its values and rules; consensus on basic attachment and compliance is fixed quite independently from party affiliation. The independent voter has been a focus of particular concern for political sociologists. Dean Roald Campbell, P. Converse, W. Miller, and D. Stokes reported that, in general, independents are not psychologically involved in political affairs. The individual citizen's involvement in American political life is obviously determined, in part, by the structure of the party system and its relation to national political events both during and between elections. The party system represents the major cleavage in the political life of this country; it encourages and preserves a beneficial disagreement and conflict, opposing the national tendency toward consensus.
