What is partisan dealignement?

Partisan dealignement is a term used to describe a pattern of voting behaviour. It suggests that less voters are strongly attached to a political party. As the electorate (voters) lose their emotional loyalty towards their party, they become more volatile, and the party they chose is less predictable. Prior to partisan dealignement, when the electorate is aligned to a particular party, they often decide who to vote for based on long term primacy factors. This includes age, geographic region, gender, race and socio-economic background. For example, a female African American living in New York would likely vote Democrat – thus suggesting predictability. After partisan dealignement occurs, voters base their choice on more short term recency factors; such as the performance of the candidate, the impact of the media or the political climate of the time. The latter presents a volatile electorate.