Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 331-349 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Public Choice |
| Volume | 181 |
| Issue number | 3-4 |
| Early online date | 27 Mar 2019 |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2019 |
Abstract
A number of studies recently have investigated party position-taking in multilevel polities. Given the attempts of federally organized parties to tailor their messages to their audiences, we investigate the voter side of the equation: Are voters sufficiently politically sophisticated to pick up on highly differentiated policy signals? Following common conceptions of political preferences, we argue that citizens have a heuristic view of party competition that is shaped by ideological and valence factors, where the latter are much less challenging to process than the former. Accordingly, citizens are able to differentiate only between the national and the regional party on the valence dimension. We argue that a valence delta between different party branches is most likely to be perceived in contexts of high media exposure, particularly when parties are in government. Results from an analysis of survey data covering 21 German state-level elections support those expectations.
Keywords
- Federalism, Germany, Spatial models of party competition, Valence
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- Sociology and Political Science
- Economics, Econometrics and Finance(all)
- Economics and Econometrics
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In: Public Choice, Vol. 181, No. 3-4, 12.2019, p. 331-349.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The effect of incumbency on ideological and valence perceptions of parties in multilevel polities
AU - Shikano, Susumu
AU - Nyhuis, Dominic
PY - 2019/12
Y1 - 2019/12
N2 - A number of studies recently have investigated party position-taking in multilevel polities. Given the attempts of federally organized parties to tailor their messages to their audiences, we investigate the voter side of the equation: Are voters sufficiently politically sophisticated to pick up on highly differentiated policy signals? Following common conceptions of political preferences, we argue that citizens have a heuristic view of party competition that is shaped by ideological and valence factors, where the latter are much less challenging to process than the former. Accordingly, citizens are able to differentiate only between the national and the regional party on the valence dimension. We argue that a valence delta between different party branches is most likely to be perceived in contexts of high media exposure, particularly when parties are in government. Results from an analysis of survey data covering 21 German state-level elections support those expectations.
AB - A number of studies recently have investigated party position-taking in multilevel polities. Given the attempts of federally organized parties to tailor their messages to their audiences, we investigate the voter side of the equation: Are voters sufficiently politically sophisticated to pick up on highly differentiated policy signals? Following common conceptions of political preferences, we argue that citizens have a heuristic view of party competition that is shaped by ideological and valence factors, where the latter are much less challenging to process than the former. Accordingly, citizens are able to differentiate only between the national and the regional party on the valence dimension. We argue that a valence delta between different party branches is most likely to be perceived in contexts of high media exposure, particularly when parties are in government. Results from an analysis of survey data covering 21 German state-level elections support those expectations.
KW - Federalism
KW - Germany
KW - Spatial models of party competition
KW - Valence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074109968&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11127-019-00659-7
DO - 10.1007/s11127-019-00659-7
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85074109968
VL - 181
SP - 331
EP - 349
JO - Public Choice
JF - Public Choice
SN - 0048-5829
IS - 3-4
ER -