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The Winning Party Platform: Voter Perceptions of Party Positions and Voting in Urban Africa
Das siegreiche Parteiprogramm: Wahrnehmungen von Parteiprogrammen und Abstimmungsverhalten im urbanen Afrika
[journal article]
Abstract Previous literature suggests that some African parties employ non-valence positional issues in their party platforms and that this practice is more prevalent in some countries than in others; however, no quantitative research has analysed the electoral effects of non-valenced campaigns. How do Afric... view more
Previous literature suggests that some African parties employ non-valence positional issues in their party platforms and that this practice is more prevalent in some countries than in others; however, no quantitative research has analysed the electoral effects of non-valenced campaigns. How do African voters perceive parties’ policy positions? Who uses party platforms to choose candidates? Using data from an original survey experiment conducted in Nairobi, we examine voter perceptions of party platforms and their behaviour in the 2017 Kenyan presidential elections. We find that the opposition party’s clearer messaging helps average voters recognise and characterise the party, compared to the incumbent’s moderate policy stance. Moreover, while both parties’ policy positions positively affect voting, non-partisan voters are more likely to support a candidate advocating moderate policies. This implies an incumbency advantage: incumbents’ broad-appeal strategies help maximise their votes, whereas opposition parties have limited strategy options.... view less
Classification
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Free Keywords
Kenya; party platform; voter perception; voting behaviour; positional issue
Document language
English
Publication Year
2021
Page/Pages
p. 172-193
Journal
Africa Spectrum, 56 (2021) 2
ISSN
1868-6869
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed