Class, Ethnicity, Age or Education: What Characteristics Determine Citizens' Sense of Political Commonality?

Abstract We know from election studies which demographic characteristics best predict vote choice, but we far less about how citizens perceive their similarity to one another in terms of these characteristics. Previous research suggests that such perceptions may be crucial for the politicization social identities and emergence political identities. I present results a novel measurement strategy where respondents are presented with profiles two fellow citizens, including several attributes. Respondents asked they themselves have more common politics. Respondents' implicit trade-off different similarities allows me measure relative strength perceived similarities. find an important role shared ethnicity, noticeably surpassing class, age education. Finally, ethnicity receives substantially weight among 2017 Conservative 2016 Leave voters than Labour Remain voters.