Applying Political Generations to the Study of Political Behavior: A Cohort Analysis

In this article cohort analysis is used to study the impact of generations on changes in political behavior and to distinguish the effects of generations from those due to aging. Four variables from Survey Research Center polls conducted between 1952 and 1968 are examined. A generation effect is found to influence opinions on aid to education, but isolationism shows a generation effect and life-cycle (aging) effect predominating at different times. The expected importance of the life cycle for voter turnout is supported, but neither effect is found to influence party identification substantially.