Political elites hold ideologically organized beliefs while the mass public shows little constraint

Evidence

But they are grossly out-numbered, as they are in the active electorate. The general point is that the matrix of correlations for the elite sample is of the sort that would be appropriate for factor analysis, the statistical technique designed to reduce a number of correlated variables to a more limited set of organizing dimensions. The matrix representing the mass public, however, despite its realistic complement of ideologues, is exactly the type that textbooks advise against using for factor analysis on the simple grounds that through inspection it is clear that there is virtually nothing in the way of organization to be discovered. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1921

Categorization

• DEFINE: Factor analysis is defined here as reducing correlated variables to organizing dimensions.
• XREF: connects to: Elite ideological battles can pass almost unwitnessed by mass publics — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 1970; Affluent-proxy preferences understate the true gap between elites and ordinary citizens. — Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page, Testing Theories of American Politics:…, 105; Norms can sustain regimes only while elites can plausibly invoke shared commitments — Philip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and…, 47