01433pab a2200145 454500008004000000100002100040245005600061260000900117300001300126362000800139520104600147650003801193650002201231773003401253180718b1999   xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  aCassel, Carol A.  aTesting the converse party support model in Britain  c1999  ap.626-44  aAug  aThis article supports the Converse party support model in Britain and more generally the Converse theory, which has implications for electoral stability, is that public support for political parties comes from individuals whose partisanship strengthens as they gain experience in voting for a party. Abramson recently concluded the theory does not apply in Britain because generational change and historical (period) effects account for partisan intensities. He argued that even if period effects concealed life cycle gains, the theory would not apply because historical events in Britain - and in the United States - are too modest. From British panel data, this article reports the strongest evidence to date supporting life cycle gains in partisanship. Cohort equations show generational change in addition, as a secondary explanation. Cohort equations also disclose which historical events caused dealignment. Dealignment periods in both Britain and the United States are limited, and the events that produced them are rare. - Reproduced  aPolitical parties - Great Britain  aPolitical parties  aComparative Political Studies