what are the two classic theories of electoral behaviour?
- party identification
2. political cleavage
what is the party identification theory also known as?
michigan school of eb
psychological theory of voting
what does the party identification theory argue?
the more one identifies with a party, more likely that they will vote for that party
what effect does party identification have on the voter?
organizing divide for political evaluation and judgements and device for mobilization
what effect does party identification have on the system?
stabilization of electoral behavior
what are the sources of party identification? (3)
socialization institutions, type of party system or registration requirements
problems with party identification?
works well in the us but not in europe because there people identify more with social groups rather than parties
what is the political cleavage theory also known as?
sociological theory or social group theory of voting
2 political scientists working on political cleavages
lipset and rokken
3 conditions for a relevant cleavage
- social division
- collective identity (being aware-sharing a sense of belonging)
- organizational expression (being encapsulated in an org)
2 main sources of political cleavage
- national revolution
2. industrial revolution
2 cleavages under national revolution
center x periphery
church x state
2 cleavages under industrial revolution
urban x rural
owner x worker
cross cutting cleavages in europe led to a….
multiparty system
effects of political cleavages on voters
formation of strong collective political identities
effects of political cleavages on the system
stabilization and formation of different party systems
alford index of class voting
if we assess workers voting preferences across countries, we can see that nowadays class as an indicator has been eroding. more working class people aren’t voting left
structural reasons for the declining importance of religion and class
- post industrial society changed the way production is organized that we no longer see it as a united whole.
- importance of mass media
- new types of divisions like immigration
what do the party identification and political cleavage theories share? (3)
- emphasis on stability and predictability of electoral behaviour
- emphasis on long term factors underpinning electoral behaviour
- general theories of electoral behaviour
consequences of voter dealignment (3)
- increased volatility
- increased fragmentation
- split ticket voting
rational choice theory
if the effort of voting is low, and the benefits are high- turnout will be higher
what are the 3 main patterns of electoral voting?
- issue voting
- political leaders
- new cleavages
valence issues
we agree on whether it is good or bad - we vote for parties based on their capacities to deal with it
position issues
taking a stance like abortion
