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Multidimensional Incongruence and Vote Switching in Europe

Bakker, Ryan ; Jolly, Seth and Polk, Jonathan LU orcid (2018) In Public Choice 176(1-2). p.267-296
Abstract
Does ideological incongruence hurt parties in elections? Research on the representational relationship between parties and voters suggests that ideological congruence can boost a party’s electoral prospects. However, while the mechanism is at the individual-level, most of the literature focuses on the party-level. In this article, we develop a set of hypotheses based on a multi-issue conception of party-voter congruence at the individual-level, and examine the electoral consequences of these varying congruence levels in the 2014 European Parliament elections. Consistent with our expectations, comparative analysis finds that ideological and issue-specific incongruence is a significant factor in voting behavior in the European Parliament... (More)
Does ideological incongruence hurt parties in elections? Research on the representational relationship between parties and voters suggests that ideological congruence can boost a party’s electoral prospects. However, while the mechanism is at the individual-level, most of the literature focuses on the party-level. In this article, we develop a set of hypotheses based on a multi-issue conception of party-voter congruence at the individual-level, and examine the electoral consequences of these varying congruence levels in the 2014 European Parliament elections. Consistent with our expectations, comparative analysis finds that ideological and issue-specific incongruence is a significant factor in voting behavior in the European Parliament elections. Although the substantive effects of incongruence are understandably small compared to partisanship, government, or EU performance evaluations, party-voter disagreement consistently matters, and voters’ issue salience is an important moderator of the impact of incongruence on vote choice. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Parties, Elections, Incongruence, European Union
in
Public Choice
volume
176
issue
1-2
pages
267 - 296
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:85046812593
ISSN
0048-5829
DOI
10.1007/s11127-018-0555-z
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
3e18b26b-04e6-4b64-96b8-d900d1599a36
date added to LUP
2021-09-13 11:16:23
date last changed
2023-03-08 01:03:18
@article{3e18b26b-04e6-4b64-96b8-d900d1599a36,
  abstract     = {{Does ideological incongruence hurt parties in elections? Research on the representational relationship between parties and voters suggests that ideological congruence can boost a party’s electoral prospects. However, while the mechanism is at the individual-level, most of the literature focuses on the party-level. In this article, we develop a set of hypotheses based on a multi-issue conception of party-voter congruence at the individual-level, and examine the electoral consequences of these varying congruence levels in the 2014 European Parliament elections. Consistent with our expectations, comparative analysis finds that ideological and issue-specific incongruence is a significant factor in voting behavior in the European Parliament elections. Although the substantive effects of incongruence are understandably small compared to partisanship, government, or EU performance evaluations, party-voter disagreement consistently matters, and voters’ issue salience is an important moderator of the impact of incongruence on vote choice.}},
  author       = {{Bakker, Ryan and Jolly, Seth and Polk, Jonathan}},
  issn         = {{0048-5829}},
  keywords     = {{Parties; Elections; Incongruence; European Union}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1-2}},
  pages        = {{267--296}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Public Choice}},
  title        = {{Multidimensional Incongruence and Vote Switching in Europe}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/135688644/2018_03_12_MicroDim_PC_.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s11127-018-0555-z}},
  volume       = {{176}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}