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Should I stay or should I go? An experimental study on voter responses to pre-electoral coalitions
[journal article]
Abstract "Pre-electoral coalitions (PECs) are one of the most often used methods to coordinate
entry into the electoral market. Party elites, however, do not know how voters will
respond to the coalition formation at the polls. In this article, the authors report on an
experimental study among 1,255 Belgian ... view more
"Pre-electoral coalitions (PECs) are one of the most often used methods to coordinate
entry into the electoral market. Party elites, however, do not know how voters will
respond to the coalition formation at the polls. In this article, the authors report on an
experimental study among 1,255 Belgian students. In order to study voter responses to the
formation of PECs, respondents were presented with two ballots: one with individual parties
(party vote condition) and one with coalitions (coalition vote condition). The aim of this
experiment is to predict under what conditions party supporters will follow their initially
preferred party into the coalition and vote for the PEC, and under what conditions they
would desert the PEC at the polls.The decision whether to follow the coalition or not can be
traced back to four considerations: dislike of the coalition partner; ideological congruence
between coalition partners; size of the initially preferred party; and being attracted to a
specific high-profile candidate. (Dis)liking the coalition partner is independent from the
ideological congruence between the two coalition partners. The study’s results also show
support for an adjustment effect, as respondents became more loyal toward cartels over the
course of the 2003–2005 observation period." [author's abstract]... view less
Keywords
voting behavior; voter; political behavior; election result; coalition formation; election research; political strategy; electoral sociology
Classification
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Method
documentation
Document language
English
Publication Year
2008
Page/Pages
p. 556-577
Journal
European Journal of Political Research, 47 (2008) 5
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2008.00787.x
Licence
Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications
Data providerThis metadata entry was indexed by the Special Subject Collection Social Sciences, USB Cologne