Voting Behaviour Flashcards
Sociological and Rational Models
Why is voting important? (3)
· Creates a link between the citizens & government
· Citizens demand & Government translates
· Citizens evaluate the government
What do Sociological Theories study?
The stability and party support of voting behaviour based on identity and group attachments
· internalise values
· “the party of”
What do Rational Theories study?
The dynamics of voting behaviour based on how voters desire certain political outcomes
· benefit maximisation
· political values are ignored
Soc. Model 1
Group Identification
· Individuals identify themselves within a group which is then translated into a political party.
· People automatically vote for it.
· Pillarisation: based on 4 main pillars (C,P,M,W) the groups are translated into parties.
Group Identification in the NL
· 2 main cleavages: church & class
· Applied within the Left-Right spectrum : Left (Social Democrats: Prot+WC: PvdA) Right (Christian Democrats: Cath+MC:VVD/CDA)
Critiques to Group Identification Model (2)
- Group size and dynamics are reduced
- Predictive power and votes decreases which makes it more difficult to predict future behaviour
Soc. Model 2
Party Identification
· Individuals identify with a party and vote for it
· Based on which policies the party will implement and how the tasks will be carried out
· Depending on the candidate concepts become polarised
· Political parties need to provide information to voters
Critiques to Party Identification(3)
- Voters focus on the economy when they don’t have enough information
- Collapse and creation of parties in a multiparty system decreases party identification stability
- Post-communist states cannot identify as easily with a party
Rat. Model 1
Spatial Model (Downs, 1957)
Voting behaviour is based on the Left-Right dimension
· Parties are within a graph and voters place themselves based on their identification and preferences
· Voters vote for the closest party
Rat. Model 1
Spatial Model (Downs, 1957)
- Voters are policy maximisers
Voters will take into account policies so the elected party (if in government) will be able to implement it.
Rat. Model 1
Spatial Model (Downs, 1957)
- Parties as vote maximisers
Parties change their position based on voters
· 2 party system: parties place in the centre
· multiparty system: parties expand/spread out
Critiques to Spatial Model (3)
- When voters lack information they will focus on the party’s economic position, thus, misunderstanding the Left-Right dimension.
- Voters aren’t always knowledgeable about their position, thus, placing themselves in the middle creating uncertainty and unbalance.
- Voters behave prospectively without taking into account that the model is based on past behaviour.
Rat. Model 2
Performance Voting + issues considered when voting
Based on valance voters and issues
· agree that valance issues need to be tackled but disagree on which party will effectively tackle them.
· due to different definitions/perceptions issues become blurred
Considerations are focused on the state economy by rewarding or punishing the government and the state’s economy.
· voters become sociotropic: associating/attributing the economic situation with their personal finances
Based on the Performance Voting, what is RETROSPECTIVE VOTING?
Voters focusing on recent performance, therefore, will vote for the same party if they are satisfied, if voters aren’t satisfied they will vote for the opposition.
Advantages to Performance Voting Model (2)
- Voters don’t need to be politically knowledgeable but rather consider whether state conditions are improving or not.
- It provides mechanisms for democratic accountability
