L6 - Electoral Behaviour Flashcards
What are the 2 main theories of electoral behavior
Party Identification Theory
Political Cleavage Theory
Explain Party Identification Theory
(give the definition)
- what does it suggests
Party Identification (PI) Theory is a psychological theory that measures the association people have with political parties, which influences their voting behavior.
It is used as a predictor to look at individuals behaviour
The theory suggests that the stronger the bond between an individual and a political party, the more likely they are to interpret political messages through the lens of that party and vote for its candidates.
What are the effects (on the voters & the system) of Party Identification (PI) Theory?
PI theory has significant effects on both voters and the political system.
For voters: It serves as an organizing device for political evaluation and judgment and political mobilization.
For the system: It stabilizes electoral behavior.
What are the sources of the PI Theory?
Sources of PI include:
1) The socialization process that individuals experience from childhood, which becomes stronger later on.
2) The set of institutions that voters operate in, such as the type of party system.
What is the problem of the PI Theory?
A problem with PI theory is that it works better in the US than in the European context.
Explain Cleavage Theory
Political Cleavage theory is a sociological theory that suggests electoral behavior is the result of the underlying cleavage structure of societies.
- These cleavage structures are the production of long historical processes.
What is Cleavage ?
1) social division (observable): You can divide society based on wealth & occupation/religion/ethnicity.
2) Collective identity: Where individuals identify with one of the minority groups (ex: part of a religious groups)
3) Organizational expression: Groups have an organization to represent them.
What are sources of cleavages?
Sources of cleavages include:
- National Revolution: Emergence & establishment of states in Europe
- Industrial Revolution: Change from agricultural based economy to industrial.
What are 4 distinct key cleavages?
& What do they result form?
Center/Periphery cleavage: Result of state formation (creation of minorities - structures some electoral behaviour).
Church/State Cleavage: Result of state formation (conflict b/w the church and the states: church wanted religious schools; in protestant countries there was a deal reached & in catholic countries deal was harder to make).
Urban/Rural: Result of industrial revolution; emerged rich cities and poor rural villages.
Owner/Worker (most important cleavage): Result of industrial revolution - class cleavage (owners being richer than workers).
What are the effects of political cleavage theory?
On voters: Organizing device for political evaluation and judgments & the formation of strong collective political identities.
On the system: The theory also stabilizes electoral behavior and forms a different party system.
What do Party identification + Political Cleavage share?
- Emphasis on stability and predictability of electoral behaviour
- Emphasis on long-term factors underpinning electoral behaviour
- General theories of electoral behaviour
What are consequences of dealignment?
- Increased electoral volatility
- Increase in the fragmentation of party system
- Split ticket voting
- Increased importance of electoral campaigns:Successful candidates must persuade voters and win Electoral College votes, making electoral campaigns more important. People tend to decide who to vote for at the end of campaigns, leading to increased campaign expenses.
- Increase in general political interest, but decline in electoral activities
Explain electoral volatility
Electoral volatility refers to the degree of change or instability in a political party system resulting from shifts in individual voter preferences and vote transfers from one party to another in elections.
Explain Political Fragmentation
- does it make the political environment more competitive or less?
Political fragmentation is the fragmentation of the political landscape into different political parties, groups, or organizations, which makes it difficult for any group to achieve a majority and to deliver effective governance
Political fragmentation can apply to political parties, political groups or other political organizations.
A highly fragmented political landscape equates to many small parties, resultingin a highly competitive political environment.
Explain Split Ticket Voting
- What is it
- What occurs when voters vote by splitting their ticket.
- Who does it reduces the chances to win & who does it increase the chances to win?
- Where is it common
Split ticket voting refers to the practice of voting for candidates from more than one political party in a single election.
Vote splitting occurs when voters divide their support among multiple candidates with similar positions or ideologies, reducing the chances of any one of them winning.
This can increase the chances of a candidate from a dissimilar party winning the election.
In the US (not in Europe - in EU countries there are different types of election).
