The effect of trust of a political party as a moderating variable on the leadership towards voters' loyalty

Abstract

AbstractThis paper aims to conducting an analysis and research with a view to testing and analyzing the effects of leadership on voter loyalty with political communication, a party's image, and voter satisfaction as the intervening (mediating) variables. This research employing a survey method was conducted in the Special Capital Region of Jakarta precisely in July 2013 until August 2013 where the population consisted of fixed voters in the area of Jakarta which, according to the data from the General Elections Commission of the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (Komisi Pemilihan Umum [KPU] Daerah Khusus Ibukota [DKI] Jakarta), the number of fixed voters in the regional‐head election in 2012 amounted to 6,996,951 people. The sample size was calculated using Slovin's formula with a 5% error level and obtained a sample of 400 respondents selected randomly. The implications of this research is The higher the variable Leadership is, the higher the values of the variables Political Communication and A Party's Image are. Variables A Party's Image and Voter Satisfaction which have a significant and positive influence on Voter Loyalty. Variables Leadership and Political Communication which are not significant on the variable Voter Loyalty (Y4), Moreover, this research also discovers that A Party's Image mediates the influence of Leadership on Voter Loyalty. Loyalty of voters results from a process which is both complex and consists of multiple factors involving the individual voters themselves, the environment, and political parties.