Dixon, Daneil2022-05-042022-05-042022-05-03https://hdl.handle.net/2144/44350This thesis considers the relationship between public and elite opinion and explores the causes of polarization in American politics. In the first part of the thesis, I review theories that explain potential sources for polarization, and I discuss the effect that polarization has had on specific policy issues in recent history. In the second part of the thesis, I use Gallup data on public opinion and VoteView data on elite ideology in order to run tests that illustrate the origins of polarization. My findings provide evidence that elites are a more influential factor than the general public in determining future ideological shifts. Interestingly, these shifts are often against the dominant elite ideology. My findings also suggest that elites may play a leading role in current political polarization.en-USCC0 1.0 Universalhttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/Polarization