Voting Behaviour Flashcards
Schools of voting behaviour
Columbian Michigan Chicago Partisanship Value orientation Economic voting
Columbian school
Voting happens when voters try to process political information
Argues voting is a method of expressing oneself
Researched into 1940 election- out of date?
Michigan school
1960, American National election study
Acceptrole of networks and groups - how much of a role do they still play? Social circles still powerful
Stress cognitive impact of media, time, place and circumstances
Chicago school
Economic model Downs model Bell curve idea Voters are centrists BUT voting = irrational
Partisanship idea
Obvious in UK and US
Need strong two party system
Obvious in social democratic parties - working class base
Criticisms of partisanship idea of voting
Candidates are key
Funnel of causality
Single issue politics
Local loyalties (southern swing from Dem, to Rep.)
Value orientation voting
Values = cognitive shorthand
Second-wave socialisation
Based on post-materialist thinking
People consider voting based on bigger ideas than just what is economically best for them
Economic voting
Based on Downs’ model
Voter is a rational economist
Retrospective vs perspective voting
Criticisms of economic voting
Government will synchronise electoral and business cycle (0bvious in post-war Britain)
Voting is still a paradoc
Votiners aren’t rational
Based in Anglo-Saxon literature
Scarcity Hypothesis
While there is scarcity and basic survival there will be a heirarchy of priorities (survival being top). Once these basic needs are met, people will vote for more post-materialistic things
Socialisation hypothesis
Ideas and positions are changing during younger years, fix when adulthood is reached. (Ideas changed by social milieu. If you then grow up and live in social and economic insecurity you will favour an authotarian, growth focussed government. Otherwise post-materialist ideas will play a larger role
