Definition

1. Noun:
   • A process in which voters move away from strong, long-term identification with a particular political party, leading to a weakening of the traditional party system. This term describes a shift in electoral behavior where voters become more independent, less predictable, and less loyal to a single party, often resulting in more volatile election outcomes.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • Political scientists observed a period of dealignment in the 1970s, as many voters abandoned their traditional party loyalties.
  • The rise of independent candidates is often a sign of voter dealignment.

Advanced Usage

• "Partisan dealignment": A more specific term referring to the decline in the strength of attachment (partisanship) that voters feel toward political parties.
  • The study focused on the causes and consequences of partisan dealignment in Western democracies.

Variants and Related Words

• Dealign (verb, less common): To undergo or cause dealignment.
  • The electorate began to dealign from the two major parties.
• Realignment (noun): The opposite process, where voters form new, stable attachments to political parties, creating a new electoral majority.

Synonyms

• Electoral volatility: Instability in voting patterns.
• Partisan erosion: The weakening of party loyalty.

Related Phrases

• Floating voter: A voter who does not feel a strong allegiance to any party and may vote differently in each election, a product of dealignment.
• Weakening of party ties: A descriptive phrase for the core concept of dealignment.

Noun

1. a process whereby voters are moved toward nonpartisanship thus weakening the structure of political parties