Party Attachments Research Articles

When Parties Matter: The Conditional Influence of Party Positions on Voter Opinions about European Integration

While the literature on public support for European integration often suggests that political elites play an important role in shaping public attitudes toward the European Union, the empirical findings to date reveal an inconsistent pattern of political effects. The causal direction of this relationship has also been questioned. Using data from the Eurobarometer surveys, this article tests hypotheses to explain national, partisan, and individual-level variations in the strength of the party/voter connection. The results of a nonrecursive model demonstrate that party positions do influence electorate opinion, but that this effect varies with levels of disagreement among parties, party unity, issue salience, and party attachment. These results help to explain when and where political parties will exercise the greatest influence over public opinion.

The Incumbency Advantage in U.S. Elections: An Analysis of State and Federal Offices, 1942–2000

Rising incumbency advantages in U.S. House elections have prompted a wave of new electoral laws, ranging from campaign nance regulations to term limits. We test a central claim for these reforms { that the incumbency advantage re°ects the collective irresponsibility inherent in legislatures. We study incumbency advantages for all state executive elections from 1942 to 2000 and contrast that with incumbency advantages in state and federal legislative elections. We nd that incumbency advantages for state executives and for legislators are similar in magnitude and have grown at the same rate over the last 60 years. If anything legislators have lower incumbency advantages than state executives. This nding reveals that the incumbency advantage is not unique to legislatures and that theories of incumbency advantages based on redistricting, legislative irresponsibility, pork barrel politics, and other features of legislatures do not explain the incumbency advantage. Some time in the late 1960s, congressional scholars began to note the increasing vote margins of U.S. House incumbents. By the mid-1970s a full-blown debate about the magnitude and sources of the incumbency advantage in US House elections had emerged. The list of potential causes is many { redistricting, congressional-bureaucratic relations, pork barrel spending, campaign nances, and declining party attachments. Broadly speaking, the debate over the sources of the incumbency advantage points either to factors that are distinctive to legislative politics, such as pork barrel politics and redistricting, or to factors that likely a®ected all o±ces, most notably the decline of party attachments or the growth of government generally. The conventional wisdom holds that legislative incumbents have uniquely high electoral advantages for two reasons. The rst is that many things that are thought to a®ect reelection rates are unique to legislatures. The most important of these are redistricting and seniority. Cox and Katz (2002) argue that the redistricting revolution caused the rise of incumbency advantages after the 1960s, because district lines can now be drawn to prevent competition. McKelvey and Reizman (1992) argue that seniority systems create a disincentive for voters to select someone else. Power within the legislature is tied to seniority, and as a legislator climbs the seniority rank the voters that legislator represents will bene t. Because all incumbents have some seniority no voters want to turn out their incumbent in the place of a new person, who will be the lowest ranked legislator. A second reason that legislators are thought to have especially large incumbency advantages is the lack of collective responsibility. Executives are held accountable for the broad performance of their agencies. Governors are responsible for economic performance; attorneys general, for crime; and so forth. Executives are also accountable for their actions: an executive decision is the decision of the individual politician. Legislatures, by contrast, are collective bodies. It is hard to know who in the legislature is responsible for a weak economy or a high crime rate. Party leaders can also coordinate legislators so that an individual legislator does not have to cast a vote that is particularly unpopular in the individual's

Are political parties necessary?

Based on recent survey data from 20 countries, this article examines the ‘contagion’ thesis: that lack of support among the electorate at one level of the political system may spread to other levels. The levels examined are political parties and the party system. The results demonstrate that the degree to which people are attached to a party is related to how they view the need for parties in their country. In countries with widely different democratic systems, people who identify strongly with a party tend to be much more supportive of the idea that parties are necessary to the functioning of the political system than people without strong party attachments. Hence, party identification, a concept originating with the ‘Michigan Four’, is not only a very useful tool in analyzing voting behavior. It can also be applied to studying support for party-based democratic political systems.

Strategic voting, party activity, and candidate effects: testing explanations for split voting in New Zealand's new mixed system

Recent research on voting in Germany's mixed electoral system suggests that split voting has more to do with voter confusion than sophistication, although this remains a matter of debate. We examine this question in the context of New Zealand's new mixed system, which is modeled after Germany's. We focus on alternative explanations for split voting. One is derived from theories of strategic voting, which hypothesizes that voters will split their votes when their preferred party's candidate is not viable in single member district (SMD) contests. We also consider the influence of party attachments and candidate preference. We examine these explanations using both aggregate and individual level data. The assumption that split voting in mixed systems is largely due to confusion is not supported in New Zealand as split voters cast votes in predictable patterns. In particular, we find that strategic defections are more likely to occur when the preferred candidate is not viable. Those with higher levels of political knowledge are more likely to defect from nonviable candidates. Partisan attachments and candidate effects also help to explain split voting.

Party Attachments and State Election Laws

Party Attachments and State Election Laws

Party Attachments and State Election Laws

This article examines the influence that state party registration laws have on individual-level party attachments. It tests the hypothesis that individuals living in states with party registration laws are more likely than those living in states without such laws to identify themselves as partisans. This occurs primarily because of self-perception processes by which registrants infer their party attitudes from their own behaviors. Using the state-based Senate Election Study data to test this expectation, we find strong evidence for both statistically and substantively significant effects of party registration on individual partisanship. Registered indviduals living in states with party registration are, by about ten percenage points, more likely to identify as partisans than those in other states even when controlling for alternative hypotheses dealing with state cuture, attitudes toward the parties, retrospective evaluations, interest in politics, and demographic factors. Importantly, the effect is not observed for individuals who are not registered to vote but is for registered novoters. However, registration-induced party identification is shallow, as individuals living in registration states are also more likely to vote for candidates from the other party.

Are Catholics still different? Catholicism, political attitudes and party attachments in Switzerland, 1970–95

This article is concerned with the political attitudes and the party attachments of Swiss Catholics between 1970 and 1995. Do Catholics still have distinct political orientations or have the differences between Catholics and non‐Catholics withered away in the process of secularisation? A re‐analysis of several surveys indicates that Catholics are indeed still different politically from the overall Swiss population. But these differences between Catholics and non‐Catholics are relatively small and have almost disappeared in the last 30 years. However, the data also suggests that while the confessional cleavage has lost most of its significance, it is increasingly superseded by a religious one.

Party Attachment in Europe: Methodological Critique and Substantive Implications

This article identifies the different ways in which the Eurobarometer surveys measure party attachment in different sets of member states of the European Community or Union. The main variants are an absolute question, an ordinal question and a relative question. Using Eurobarometer data covering the period 1978–94, it is shown that these different questions produce predictably different estimates of the distribution of party attachment. The methodological interpretation is confirmed and a new equivalent measure of party attachment is constructed using the results of a specific test inserted for this purpose in Eurobarometer 41.1. The new measure is constructed in such a way as to preserve the comparability of Eurobarometer data on this topic over time. The new operationalization significantly improves the predictive power of the construct and it is recommended that it be adopted in future.

S-7-2 Abnormal motor subroutines in dystonia

In this paper, we explore the importance of negative orientations towards political parties in the political socialization process. We extend the traditional idea that children adopt a certain positive party attachment from their parents, and also take into account the possibility that the family can play an important role in the development of negative partisanship. We test the assumption that within the family, children learn both about the ‘good ones’ and the ‘bad ones’ of the political world, and analyze intergenerational similarities in positive and negative orientations towards the different political parties in the Flemish (Belgium) landscape. Results show that parental socialization can indeed work in two directions. Intergenerational similarity is not only observed in support – as could be expected from earlier research – but can also be observed, to a similar extent, for explicit negative orientations. This is particularly the case for parties at the far ends of the political spectrum such as the radical right Vlaams Belang (and to a lesser extent for the Green party), but this logic also applies for more mainstream, established parties, such as the Christian democrats.

Voter strategies under preferential electoral systems: A single transferable vote mock ballot survey of London voters

To properly explore the richness of the single transferable vote (STV) electoral system we need access to individual level data produced by mock ballot surveys. Very few such data sources are available. This article uses a mock ballot poll of London voters at the 1994 European parliament elections to examine (1) the issue of party attachment under STV, and ballot paper effects, across all voters in the sample; (2) asymmetry in transfer patterns, comparing voters for each of the parties; (3) different transfer trends, between those who plump for candidates in the order on the ballot and those who spread their preferences, within each party slate. The overall conclusion is that electoral and party systems combine to provide significant micro-level incentives for voters to respond to the ballot.

Party attachments and political fragmentation in Europe

Abstract. Values and ideologies seem to be changing rapidly in many countries of Western Europe. These developments imply a shift among the adherents of political parties. On the one hand, we expect to see a process of deideologization weakening the traditional ties between parties and their adherents. On the other hand, increasing pluralization is suggested by the ongoing process of individualization. In this study we analyze the orientations of the adherents of the main political parties in 12 Western European countries in the last two decades. We expect to find clear traces of ongoing deideologization as well as pluralization, but this expectation proves to be inaccurate. Neither deideologization nor pluralization can be accepted as a common feature of party adherents in advanced industrial societies. On the contrary. Each of these processes seems to follow a different path of development in distinct countries and in distinct party families. A general ‘decline‐of‐the‐party’ or an ‘end‐of‐ideology’ is not to be found among the adherents of the main parties in Western Europe in the last decades. The processes appear to be more complicated, with divergent developments in different countries.

The instability of partisanship due to context

Recent research shows that certain conditions can lead to change in party attachment by individuals. This essay develops and tests three hypotheses derived from the established literature that suggest individual partisanship is unstable. These tests are arrayed in increasing order of complexity. How the length of residence affects partisanship is addressed. A second test asks if the information flow during elections contributes to change in party attachment. The third test looks at the way interaction among partisans affects partisanship. Strong instability is indicated through interaction effects not found in the other models. The consequences for vote-choice models are addressed.

PARTY ATTACHMENT AND PARTY CHOICE IN THE EUROPEAN ELECTIONS OF JUNE 1989: A cross-national comparative analysis of the post-electoral surveys of the European Voters Study 1989

PARTY ATTACHMENT AND PARTY CHOICE IN THE EUROPEAN ELECTIONS OF JUNE 1989: A cross-national comparative analysis of the post-electoral surveys of the European Voters Study 1989

La « bataille des comités de soutien » ou la droite en campagne

The «battle of the support committees», or the right on campaign The "battle of the support committees " for Raymond Barre and Jacques Chirac was an episode of the presidential campaign, thus named by journalists. Elected officials and other personalities chose to support one of the two candidates of the " classic " Right, contrary to their past party attachments or their presumed sympathies. The " battle " sheds light on the Right on campaign and the competitive /cooperative relations between Raymond Barre and Jacques Chirac, each thinking that he would need the other in the second round. Jacques Chirac appeared ex post in a dominant (but not hegemonic) position. Raymond Barre followed his rival's moves rather than preceding them. Jacques Chirac's team demonstrated the existence of clearly identified and legitimate spokes-persons. That of Raymond Barre, on the other hand, showed an escalation of a rhetoric which went in all directions. In addition, the "battle of the support committees " emphasized the interactions between the political professionals and the journalists as well as the determinant role of the latter in the " visibilization " of political actions. All this indicates how much both categories of actors participate in the production of a " legitimate " conception of politics and their common belief in the efficacy of rites and practices to which the voter is presumed to be attentive.

Regional Aspects of the Perceptions of Political‐Party Attachment in Sweden: Notes on Some Implications of Social Change1

Using confirmatory factor analysis of nine survey perception items the author tests hypotheses ‐ derived from general theories in the field of electoral behavior‐ regarding fundamental latent structures of perceptions of party choice and party attachment in four types of Swedish environment defined by different degrees of urbanization. Significantly different structures have to be specified indicating greater group‐dependent affective attachments in rural areas and attachments of greater dependence on the party‐program contexts in urban districts. In the second and third sections of the paper these results are further explored through the construction of dichotomized typologies of voters. Loglinear analysis reveals that differences between environments, as with typologies, can be fully interpreted and explained by demographic and educational differences in the composition of the electorate. Provided that the different composition has been brought about by general urbanization, the results seem to indicate the political effects of social change that can be further emphasized in the future.

On party attachment in Western Europe and the utility of eurobarometer data

An analysis of 25 Eurobarometer surveys conducted between 1974 and 1988 in each of the European Community member‐countries shows that there is no single trend discernible throughout Western Europe. Although levels of party attachment are decreasing in most member‐states, four different patterns have emerged, and they closely relate to more general developments in the respective party systems. These patterns are: strong dealignment (Ireland); peripheral dealignment (United Kingdom and Italy); post‐realignment (Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Belgium); and stable alignment (West Germany).

The Impact of Party Identification on Issue Attitudes

This paper presents a simple, but theoretically appropriate, model for the influence of party identification on issue attitudes. Most studies simply relate partisanship directly to issues. However, that approach does not explain how one variable affects the other. Here, party identification is modeled as a manifestation of reference group phenomena. As such, a person's issue positions are taken to be a function of perceptions about his or her party's stands on the same issues. In addition, the degree of consistency between partisan perceptions and attitudes should increase with stronger party attachments. The analysis also examines the alternative possibility that a person's beliefs about his or her own party are largely rationalized from the individual's own feelings. The model is tested using data from the 1980 Center for Political Studies (CPS) American National Election Study. The empirical results show that partisanship does provide cues for guiding personal political orientations. At the same time, perceptions of the parties' issue stands are not merely derived from the citizens' own attitudes. Thus, the analysis supports the conventional view of party identification as an example of reference group influence on individual behavior.

The dimensionality of partisan strength and political independence

This study explores the dimensionality of partisan strength and independence by analyzing the relationships between the traditional four-point partisan strength scale, a strength of independence scale, and other relevant variables in the 1980 and 1984 NES/CPS election studies. In particular, the investigation centers on the possible different explanations for independence. The findings tend to support explanations for independence that concern party attachment and civic responsibility. The data show that partisan strength and independence are separate components of party identification. Previous findings based on the use of the traditional partisan strength scale may therefore need to be reconsidered.

Party Leaders and Election Outcomes in Britain, 1974-1983

It is often suggested that British general elections are becoming more presidential in character, particularly with the increasing emphasis placed by mass media on the character and activities of party leaders. To date, however, there have been few attempts to estimate how much of an effect leaders have on election outcomes, independently of partisan ties. This article uses multivariate techniques to examine the factors that influence a leader's popularity and estimates the effect of leaders on electoral outcomes in Britain in 1974, 1979, and 1983. The results suggest, first, that the popularity of leaders depends on party attachment, political attitudes, and socioeconomic status. Second, both attitudes and the popularity of leaders are influential in determining whether or not voters will defect, with leaders becoming relatively more important in this regard in the 1983 election. Finally, changes in the popularity of party leaders are capable of influencing an election result by a few percentage points, but in none of the three elections examined here was the magnitude of such changes sufficient to produce a different election outcome.

Whither the Local Parties?: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analysis of the Strength of Party Organizations

The authors have earlier demonstrated that state and national party organizations have increased in strength in the last few decades. Here they assess the nature of change in the attributes of local party organizations. They find that local parties have not become less active and less organized over the past two decades. Most sustain a fairly high level of programmatic activity and a significant minority of them conduct some party-maintenance activity in nonelection periods. The strength of local party organizations varies significantly by region, but not by party. Local organizational strength is relatively independent of the strength of the state party organizations, despite the substantial assistance state parties give to their local counterparts. These findings complicate the party demise thesis by suggesting that the consequences of change in one component of party must be assessed within the context of possibly dissimilar and maybe even compensatory change in the other components of party. The last 20 years have not been kind to American political parties. Parties appear less able at performing their traditional functions than in the past: the ability to structure the vote is diminished as the partisan attachments of the electorate weaken; control over candidates' access to the party label is loosened as democratization opens primary processes to those with marginal party attachments; candidates eschew party election support and turn to political action committees and campaign consultants instead, thereby reducing the incentives to defer to the party; and the ability of parties to organize the government is waning. Generally, it seems that the forces contributing to the maintenance of the existing parties and party system are badly eroded. But there is also evidence that parties as organizations have grown stronger