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Elections: Electoral Behaviour - Coggle Diagram
Elections: Electoral Behaviour
theories of electoral behaviour
party identification theory (Michigan school of thought):
measure of association of people with political parties based on long-term psychological identification
sources
socialization: early childhood and youth are considered crucial to party identification
institutions: two party system, compulsory registration requirements (because you already have to cast your vote when registering)
problems
Better in American than European context, because of psychological affinity with the church or trade unions (AKA social structures), and political stability in Europe
effects
on the voters: organizing device for political evaluation and judgments, device of political mobilization
on the system: stabilization of electoral behaviour
cleavage theory:
What is a cleavage?
collective identity: all people are aware of an identity and be willing to act on the basis of that identity (being catholic or a laborer, etc.)
organizational expression: a cleavage must be expressed in organizational group to mobilize an express that division (trade union, etc.)
social division: people are divided on the basis of some key characteristic (wealth, religion)
sources
national revolution: involved the formation of Europe 1848-1849
industrial revolution: involved profound change in economic systems from agriculture based to industry based 1718-1820
led to... 4 cleavages:
church-state:
emerging state in the hands of secular bourgeoisie. christian groups are fierce opponents, leads to strong religious parties and strong influence on voting behavior, mostly in countries where compromise wasn't reached (Germany)
urban-rural:
industrial revolution shifted power from countryside to cities. rural felt discriminated against, in some countries (Scandinavia) led to strong agricultural political parties
centre-periphery:
state formation meant centralization of political power and smaller territories into units (states). Peripheral units in emerging states demanded own culture/language or even independence. E.g., Basques and Catalonians vote differently
owner-worker:
also, class-cleavage. most famous and important cleavage. urban-rural change led to big working class in cities, leading to confrontation about wages, job security etc. between workers and owners
effects
on voters: organizing device for political evaluation and judgments (same as party identification), formation of strong collective political identities (pillarization in NL)
on the system: stabilization of electoral behavior
erosion of cleavage politics
religious voting has been eroded by processes of secularization
voters are freed from political parties as their source of information since media, education and tv
working/middle class has been fragmented by new patterns of production of service economy
new political issues make issues such as immigration and minority rights are a new source of political cleavage
consequences of
partisan dealignment:
the weakening of bonds between voters and parties, reflected in a fall in the proportion of voters identifying with any party and a decline in the strength of allegiance among those with a party loyalty
increase in fragmentation of party systems: quick increase in newcomers who are able to receive a significant number of votes
split ticket voting: voting on different parties for, for example, legislative and congressional elections
increased voter volatility: net changes of votes for parties between consecutive elections. especially increased in post-communist countries and Latin America
increased importance of electoral campaigns: voters can be swayed to vote for a different party during the campaign, money is of more importance in political promotion
increase in general political interest but decline in electoral activities: see lecture on social capital
similarities
emphasis on stability and predictability of electoral behavior
emphasis on long-term factors underpinning electoral behavior
new patterns of electoral behaviour
political leaders: voters no longer rely on part identification; they make their choice based on the personalities of political leaders
new cleavage politics: there might be old cleavages that are weakening, but they are replaced by new political cleavages (Ronald Inglehart)
issue voting: making decisions based on assessment of policy issues of particular parties, not on collective identity (rational voting behavior)
position issues: issues in which parties can offer different types of policies (minimum wage, yes or no, abortion, yes or no, etc.
valence issues: issues on which we by large all agree on (low inflation is desirable) judging parties on their ability to deliver on a policy