Partisan Linked Fate in the American Mass Public

Is your fate linked to that of your co-partisans? We argue that Americans express partisan linked fate—the notion that the life outcomes of a respondent’s co-partisans throughout the country will have implications for a respondent’s own life. Using four distinct, nationallyrepresentative surveys of approximately 6,000 people, we find that over 75% of Americans express this sentiment. We then benchmark the expression of partisan linked fate with racial, gender, and age-based forms of linked fate. Next, we show that “strong partisans” are most likely to express partisan linked fate. We then document how partisan linked fate is related to a greater belief in conspiracy theories that are endorsed by co-partisans. Collectively, our study introduces, validates, and documents the importance of a new measure of American partisanship