Download This PaperBehind Political Affiliation: How Moral Values, Identity Politics, and Party Loyalty Have Affected COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake
44 Pages Posted: 30 Nov 2022 Last revised: 12 Nov 2023
Date Written: November 1, 2023
Abstract
Political affiliation has been an important indicator of community responses to
COVID-19 public health policies and vaccination campaigns. However, there remains
a gap in understanding the factors driving this connection and the role of
partisanship itself. This study investigates the relationship between partisanship,
moral values, and vaccination compliance against COVID-19 in 3099 US counties
from January 2021 to May 2022. The analysis uncovers a widening vaccination rate gap between
Republican and Democratic counties, particularly when considering the historical
rootedness of partisanship. Moreover, we also show that Republican Trump-leaning
counties exhibited a 2% to 5.8% lower vaccination rate compared to other
Republican counties. Importantly, moral values significantly mediate the influence of
partisanship on vaccination compliance; high communal values are associated with
up to 55.74% and 80% weaker impacts of Republican partisanship and "Trumpism".
The presence of a co-partisan state governor also influenced vaccination rates,
increasing them by approximately 3.4% in Republican counties and 3% in
Democratic-leaning ones. These findings underscore the importance of recognizing
partisanship’s heterogeneous nature to fully comprehend its relation to vaccination
uptake, and highlight the mediating role of moral values in the influence of political
affiliation on vaccine hesitancy
Note:
Funding Information: None.
Conflict of Interests: None.
Keywords: COVID-19, Partisanship, Public health, Moral values, Social trust, Copartisanship
JEL Classification: I12, I18, Z13
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation