Abstract
ABSTRACT Political conflict is often described in terms of “left” and “right” even though societal conflicts stem from various sub-dimensions such as economic and cultural issues. We argue that individuals map parties’ left-right positions based on party positions on such underlying dimensions, though their impact depends on their importance for parties and citizens. To test this, we study the German Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) whose programmatic appeal has changed fundamentally in the last years, as have citizens’ issue concerns. Using longitudinal data from the German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES), we find that citizens’ perceptions of the AfD’s left-right position are more closely related to the party’s position on specific issues (1) when these issues are prominent in the party’s communication and (2) for citizens that care more about these issues. Moreover, how voters perceive left and right in comparison to parties’ issue emphasis also affects vote choice. Our findings have important implications for the meaning of left and right, electoral behaviour, representation, and party competition.
Highlights
The left-right dimension is one of the most convenient and widely-used heuristics in politics
We study changes in perceptions of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD)’s left-right position using the Long-term Online Tracking of the German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES) and find strong evidence that citizens’ perceptions of the AfD’s left-right position have changed significantly since 2013
We show that the left-right dimension is more meaningful for vote choice when voter and party policy positions on that dimension are based on the same substantive issue positions, that is, when their left-right positions stem from similar sub-dimensions
Summary
The left-right dimension is one of the most convenient and widely-used heuristics in politics. The “leftism” of Green and socialist parties is fundamentally distinct: They might support “similar policies on preservation of health care benefits, but this is a presumably more important issue to the Social Democrats and is more influential in determining their overall political identity” (Dalton, McAllister, and Farrell 2011, 124) In addition to these cross-party differences, changing issue emphasis should alter a party’s perceived policy position over time. While the other German parties’ perceived left-right positions change moderately at most, the AfD’s position shifts from a centrist position to a very rightwing position (roughly three points on the 11-point scale) This change in perceptions might be due to the increasing demand- and supply-side importance of cultural issues, where the AfD is right-wing. Our approach to explaining perceived party positions matters in terms of electoral behaviour
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