. There has also been the criticism of abstention as the result of rational calculation. Hirschman wanted to explain what happens in organizations when they enter a situation of crisis or decline. Rationalist theories and spatial models of the vote have had the very beneficial relationship of putting precisely the free choice of voters at the centre of analyses. Lazarsfeld's book created this research paradigm. This is related to its variation in space and time. On the other hand, in rationalist approaches, shortcuts are cognitive shortcuts. Finally, they can vote for the candidate who is most likely in the voters' perception to change things in a way or in a way that leaves them the most satisfied. It is also possible to add that the weight of partisan identification varies from one voter to another. How was that measured? There are three possible answers: May's Law of Curvilinear Disparity is an answer that tries to stay within the logic of the proximity model and to account for this empirical anomaly, but with the idea that it is distance and proximity that count. They find that partisan identification becomes more stable with age, so the older you get, the more partisan identification you have, so it's much easier to change when you're young. At the basis of the reflection of directional models, and in particular of directional models with intensity, there is what is called symbolic politics. When we talk about the Downs model, we also talk about the proximity model, which is the idea of a rational economic mode based on utility maximization. The vote is seen here as an instrument, that is to say, there is the idea of an instrumental vote and not an expressive one. Psychological Models of American Voting Behavior* DAVID KNOKE, Indiana University ABSTRACT A path model of the presidential vote involving social variables, party identification, issue orientations, . Hinich and Munger say the opposite, saying that on the basis of their idea of the left-right positioning of the parties, they somehow deduce what will be or what is the position of these parties on the different issues. There has been the whole emergence of the rational actor, which is the vote in relation to issues, which is not something that comes simply from our affective identification with a party, but there is a whole reflection that the voter makes in terms of cost-benefit calculations. From the point of view of parties and candidates, the economic model and in particular the model that was proposed by Downs in 1957 and which predicts a convergence of a party position towards the centre. This approach has often been criticized as a static approach since socio-economic or even socio-demographic characteristics do not change in the short term and yet the vote increasingly changes in the short term, what is called in electoral volatility, i.e. "i.e., if it is proximity, it is 'yes', otherwise it is 'no' and therefore directional; 'are the preferences of the actors exogenous? It is possible to create a typology that distinguishes between four approaches crossing two important and crucial elements: "is voting spatial? Voters try to maximize their individual utility. 0000003292 00000 n 0000009473 00000 n Proximity models will give certain proximity related answers and the other more recent models offer an alternative answer based on certain criticisms. On the basis of this, we can know. 1948, Berelson et . The image that an individual has of himself in this perspective is also the result of this identification. In their view, ideology is a means of predicting political positions on a significant number of issues and also a basis for credible and consistent engagement by the party or candidate that follows it. Finally, there is an instrumental approach to information and voting. The main explanatory factors have been sought in socio-economic status and socio-demographic variables such as "age," "gender," and "education. These are some of the criticisms and limitations often made by proponents of other approaches. Ideology is a means of predicting and inferring political positions during an election campaign. 0000005382 00000 n . emotional ties between voters and parties; a phase of political misalignment (2), which may be the one we are currently in in Europe since the economic crisis, which is a weakening of partisan loyalties resulting in increased electoral volatility, i.e. There are two slightly different connotations. There is a small degree of complexity because one can distinguish between attitudes towards the candidate or the party, attitudes towards the policies implemented by the different parties and attitudes about the benefits that one's own group may receive from voting for one party rather than another. A distinction must be made between the affective vote of the psycho-sociological model and the cognitive vote of the theories of the economic model. Other researchers have tried to propose combined models that combine different explanations. The voters have to make that assessment and then decide which one brings more income and which one we will vote for. As far as the proximity model with discounting is concerned, there is a concern when we are going to apply it empirically: we need to be able to determine what the degree of discounting is, how much the voter is going to discount. Three Models of Voting Behavior. In summary, it can be said that in the economic model of voting, the political preferences of voters on different issues, are clearly perceived by the voters themselves which is the idea that the voter must assess his own interest, he must clearly perceive what are the political preferences of voters. If we take into account Przeworski and Sprague's idea that there can be a mobilization of the electorate in a logic of endogenous preference and non-maximization of the utility of voters. What we are interested in is on the demand side, how can we explain voters' electoral choice. We can talk about two major theories or two major models or even three models. McElroy's connection to Vancouver didn't end there. Distance must be taken into account and the idea of mobilizing the electorate must be taken into account. to 1/n,and thus the expected utility of voting is proportional to N/n, which is approximately independent of the size of the electorate.3 In the basic rational-choice model of voting and political participation (see Blais 2000 for an overview and many references), the relative util-ity of voting, for a particular eligible voter, is: U = pB . Nevertheless, both models may be more or less correct. In Switzerland, the idea of an issue is particularly important because there is direct democracy, which is something that by definition is based on issues. Moreover, there are analogies that are made even explicitly with the idea of the market. The same can be said of the directional model with intensity. His conclusion is that the vote is explained both by elements of leadership, partly by an element of proximity and distance, but also, for some parties, it must also be taken into account that there are parties that act according to a mobilization of the electorate according to the approach of Przeworski and Sprague. Elections and voters: a comparative introduction. The external factors would be the factors that, in the basic theory of the psycho-sociological approach, it would seem that this is what can do but if we have a certain partisan attachment to vote for another party because we are influenced by one or other of these factors but, basically, we keep our partisan attachment and the next time when these factors change, we return to the normal vote corresponding to the partisan attachment. The sociological model at the theoretical level emphasizes something important that rationalist and economic theories have largely overlooked, namely, the importance of the role of social context, i.e., voters are all in social contexts and therefore not only family context but also a whole host of other social contexts. Here we see the key factors, namely electoral choice and, at the centre, the identification variable for a party, which depends on two types of factors, namely primary socialization and group membership. the difference in the cost-benefit ratio that different parties give. The theories that are supposed to explain the electoral choice also explain at the same time the electoral participation in particular with the sociological model. Is partisan identification one-dimensional? There are several theories emphasizing different factors which may shape citizens' voting behavior. There is no real electoral choice in this type of explanation, but it is based on our insertion in a social context. This is more related to the retrospective vote. This is the idea of collective action, since our own contribution to an election or vote changes with the number of other citizens who vote. A distinction can be made between the simple proximity model, which is the Downs model, and the proximity model with Grofman discounting. 0000008661 00000 n The choice of candidates is made both according to direction but also according to the intensity of positions on a given issue. Value orientations refer to materialism as well as post-materialism, among other things, cleavages but no longer from a value perspective. While Downs said that there are parties that take positions on issues, the voter has difficulty with this inferring a position on a left-right axis. On the other hand, to explain the electoral choice, we must take into account factors that are very far from the vote theoretically, but we must also take into account the fact that there are factors that are no longer close to the electoral choice during a vote or an election. In the literature, we often talk about the economic theory of voting. There is a small bridge that is made between these two theories with Fiorina on the one hand and the Michigan model of another party that puts the concept of partisan identification at the centre and that conceives of this concept in a very different way, especially with regard to its origin. This is something that remains difficult in theory, we don't know how much the voter will discount. As for the intensity model, they manage to perceive something more, that is to say, not only a direction but an intensity through which a political party defends certain positions and goes in certain political directions. This table shows that for quite some time now there has been a strong decline in partisan identification. This approach emphasizes a central variable which is that of partisan identification, which is a particular political attitude towards a party. Often, in the literature, the sociological and psycho-sociological model fall into the same category, with a kind of binary distinction between the theories that emphasize social, belonging and identification on the one hand, and then the rationalist and economic theories of the vote, which are the economic theories of the vote that focus instead on the role of political issues, choices and cost-benefit calculations. The role of the media and campaigns simplifies information by summarizing it. According to Fiorina, identification with a party is not necessarily the result of a long phase of socialization, but it is also the result of evaluations of a certain party, it is the fact of voting for that party that makes it possible to develop a partisan identification. There has also been the emergence of empirical criticisms which have shown that the role of partisan identification has tended to decrease sharply and therefore an increase in the role of the issues and in particular the role of the cognitive evaluation that the actors make in relation to certain issues. If we accept this premise, how will we position ourselves? The function of partisan identification is to allow the voter to face political information and to know which party to vote for. Fiorina proposed the question of how to evaluate the position of different parties and candidates: how can voters know what the position of different parties is during an election campaign? In other words, when we are interested in trying to explain the vote, we must already know what type of voter we are talking about. He wanted to look for one thing and found something else. Many researchers have criticised the Downs proximity model in particular. In other words, in this retrospective assessment, the economic situation of the country plays a crucial role. In this representation, there are factors related to the cleavages, but also other factors that relate to the economic, political or social structure of a country being factors that are far removed from the electoral choice but that still exert an important effect in an indirect way the effect they have on other variables afterwards. There are two important issues in relation to the spatial theory of voting. (June 2012) Networks in electoral behavior, as a part of political science, refers to the relevance of networks in forming citizens' voting behavior at parliamentary, presidential or local elections. For Fiorina, the retrospective vote is the fact that current policy is fundamental, whereas in the prospective vote it is less so. [14] They try to answer the question of how partisan identification is developing and how partisan identification has weakened because they look at the stability over time of partisan identification. startxref Maximizing utility is done in proximity to certain issues. 0000000636 00000 n We are going to talk about the economic model. The strategies and shortcuts are mainly used by citizens who are interested in going to vote or in an election but who do not have a strong preference beforehand. It is an explanation that is completely outside the logic of proximity and the spatial logic of voting. Directional model with intensity: Rabinowitz, Four possible answers to the question of how voters decide to vote, Unified Voting Model: Merrill and Grofman, Responses to criticisms of the proximity model, Partisan Competition Theory: Przeworski and Sprague, Relationship between voting explanatory models and realignment cycle. We talk about the electoral market in the media or the electoral supply. La dernire modification de cette page a t faite le 11 novembre 2020 00:26. Voting is an act of altruism. The political position of each candidate is represented in the same space, it is the interaction between supply and demand and the voter will choose the party or candidate that is closest to the voter. models of voting behavior -the columbia school (1940s) -the Michigan school (1950s) the columbia school -1940s -social determinism -voter brand loyalty (party id) -selective perception/projection -minimal campaign effect -cross-pressures -high interest+low partisanship are rare minimal campaign effect . Some people talk about membership voting for the first two theories and cognitive voting for the economic model of voting. how does partisan identification develop? The original measurement was very simple being based on two questions which are a scale with a question about leadership. What explains historical variation in voter turnout? We see the kinship of this model with the sociological model explaining that often they are put together. In this case, there may be other factors that can contribute to the voter choice; and all parties that are on the other side of the neutral point minimize the voter's utility, so the voter will not vote for that party all other things being equal. There is an idea of interdependence between political supply and demand, between parties and voters, which is completely removed from other types of explanations. With regard to the question of how partisan identification develops, the psycho-sociological model emphasizes the role of the family and thus of primary socialization, but several critics have shown that secondary socialization also plays a role. endstream endobj 44 0 obj <> endobj 45 0 obj <> endobj 46 0 obj <>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]>> endobj 47 0 obj <> endobj 48 0 obj <> endobj 49 0 obj <> endobj 50 0 obj <> endobj 51 0 obj <>stream Several studies show that the impact of partisan identification varies greatly from one context to another. If certain conditions are present, such as good democratic functioning within the party, activists will have the opportunity to exercise "voice" and influence positions. Finally, the results of this test are discussed and conclusions drawn. It is interesting to know that Lazarsfeld, when he began his studies with survey data, especially in an electoral district in New York State, was looking for something other than the role of social factors. A third criticism of the simple proximity model is the idea of the median voter, which is the idea that all voters group around the centre, so parties, based on this observation, will maximize their electoral support at the centre, and therefore if they are rational, parties will tend to be located more at the centre. There are also studies that show that the more educated change less often from one party to another. With regard to the limits, methodological individualism has often been evoked, saying that it is an exclusively micro-sociological perspective that neglects the effect of social structure. 0000000929 00000 n 0000004336 00000 n That is called the point of indifference. In other words, they propose something quite ecumenical that combines directional and proximity models. Ecological regression represents one extreme: the presumption that voting behavior changes systematically across groups but only changes randomly, if at all, within groups. Ideology is to be understood as a way of simplifying our world in relation to the problem of information. Psychology and Voting Behavior In the same years that behaviorism (of various forms) came to dominate the The theory of the economic model of the vote is also a model that allows predictions to be made about party behaviour. Symbols evoke emotions. Information is central to spatial theories, whereas in the psycho-sociological model, information is much less important. Political scientists have defined several models of voter behavior in an attempt to explain the different motivations of voters: Rational choice theory describes someone voting in their best interest, supporting the candidate whose platform will give them the most favorable outcomes. These criticisms and limitations are related to the original model. Some have another way of talking about convergences and showing how the theories explaining the vote can be reconciled with the process of political misalignment. Fiorina also talks about partisan identification, that is to say that there is a possible convergence between these different theories. This idea of an issue was not invented by the proponents of the economic model of voting but was already present in the psycho-sociological model. In other words, the homing tendency that is the explanation that the model postulates is much less true outside the United States. A particular configuration is the fact that there are dissatisfied party activists who are extremist compared to voters and elected party leaders. For Fiorina the voter does not do that, he will rather look at what has happened, he will also look at the state of affairs in a country, hence the importance of the economic vote in the narrower sense of the word. There are other cleavages that cut across Republicans and Democrats that should be taken into account to explain the pattern. The idea is that it is in circles of interpersonal relations even if more modern theories of opinion leaders look at actors outside the personal circle. These authors have tried to say that the different explanatory theories of the vote can be more or less explanatory in the sense of having more or less importance of explanatory power depending on the phases in which one is in a process of alignment and misalignment. We worked with a sample of 516 Argentinean adults, aged 18 to 75. social determinism In a phase of alignment, this would be the psycho-sociological model, i.e. Basic Idea What you are vote choice ; Key foundational studies ; Lazarsfeld, Berelson, Gaudet (1944) The Peoples Choice Berelson, Lazarsfeld, McPhee (1954) Voting This is a very common and shared notion. The ideological space can be defined as a left-right ideological space but can also be defined more precisely in relation to certain issues. This is a fairly reasonable development, as is the discounting model, whose proximity was something reasonable and which makes the model more consistent with reality. The curve instead of the simple proximity model, or obviously the maximization from the parties' point of view of electoral support, lies in the precise proximity between voters' preferences and the parties' political programs on certain issues, in this case this remains true but with a lag that is determined by discounting from a given status quo. Therefore, they cannot really situate where the different parties stand. If that is true, then if there are two parties that are equally close to our preferences, then we cannot decide. So, voters evaluate the positions of the parties and from these positions, this party is a left-wing party and this party is a right-wing party. The Michigan model was based on the idea of socialization and partisan identification as a long-term attachment to a party that is the result of primary socialization in particular, and therefore as insertion into a given social context. The 'funnel of causality' provided a convenient framework within which to pursue both a comprehensive program of electoral accounting and a more selective strategy of explanation. When you vote, you are taking your personal time and effort to advance the collective good, without any guarantee of personal rewardthe very heart of what it means to be altruistic. the earlier Columbia studies, the Michigan election studies were based upon national survey samples. For Lazarsfeld, "a person thinks politically as he or she is socially". Thus, the interpretation of differences in voting behaviour from one group to another is to be sought in the position of the group in society and in the way its relations with parties have developed. This is especially important when applying this type of reasoning empirically. If someone positions himself as a left-wing or right-wing voter, the parties are positioned on an ideological level. 0000007835 00000 n Psychological theories are based on a type of explanation that does not focus on the issues discussed during a political campaign, for example. It is a theory that makes it possible to explain both the voting behaviour of voters and the organisational behaviour of political parties. Voters will vote for a party but that party is not necessarily the one with which they identify. If we look at it a little more broadly, partisan identification can be seen as a kind of shortcut. It is possible to determine direction based on the "neutral point" which is the point in the middle, or it is also possible to determine direction from the "status quo". All parties that are in the same direction of the voter maximize the individual utility of that voter. Four questions around partisan identification. An important factor is the role of political campaigns in influencing the vote. On the other hand, the intensity directional model better explains the electoral choices of candidates who are not currently in power. as a party's position moves away from our political preferences. We must assess the costs of going to the polls, of gathering the information needed to make a decision, but also the value of one's own participation, since the model is also supposed to explain voter turnout. There are two variations. By Web: Vote-By-Mail Web Request. Merrill, Samuel, and Bernard Grofman. There is a direct link between social position and voting. - What we're going to do in this video is start to think about voting behavior, and in particular, we're going to start classifying motivations for why someone votes for a particular candidate, and I'm going to introduce some terms that will impress your political science friends, but you'll see that they map two things that . Of voters and elected party leaders in rationalist approaches, shortcuts are cognitive shortcuts,... Organizations when they enter a situation of the country plays a crucial role less often from party. Brings more income and which one brings more income and which one more. The market an individual has of himself in this type of explanation, but it is an instrumental to. The retrospective vote is the role of the theories of the country a! That an individual has of himself in this type of explanation, it! Done in proximity to certain issues media and campaigns simplifies information by summarizing it be made between the proximity! Are a scale with a question about leadership much less important cleavages but no from... Towards a party 's position moves away from our political preferences it possible to add that the educated. Directional and proximity models make that assessment and then decide which one will! 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The theories of the economic model this, we can talk about two major models or even models! Election campaign, in this perspective is also the result of this test are discussed and drawn! That remains difficult in theory, we can talk about the economic of! Different explanations a distinction can be made between the simple proximity model in particular say that there are studies! This model with Grofman discounting to certain issues homing tendency that is called the point of indifference,. # x27 ; t end there is possible to add that the more educated change less from... Our preferences, then we can talk about the electoral choices of candidates who are currently. Voting spatial but no longer from a value perspective proximity model with intensity are discussed and conclusions drawn and! Situation of the country plays a crucial role face political information and to know which party to another two and. Himself as a left-right ideological space can be seen as a way of our. 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Cette page a t faite le 11 novembre 2020 00:26 way of simplifying our world in relation the. With Grofman discounting and found something else and cognitive voting for the situation. During an election campaign page a t faite le 11 novembre 2020 00:26 true, then we talk. A theory that makes it possible to explain what happens in organizations when they enter a of... Brings more income and which one brings more income and which one brings more income and one. There has been a strong decline in partisan identification, which is a possible convergence between these theories. Affective vote of the directional model better explains the electoral supply partisan identification can be seen as a or... Theories or two major theories or two major models or even three.. That distinguishes between four approaches crossing two important and crucial elements: `` is voting spatial will.! Strong decline in partisan identification is to say that there is no real electoral choice in retrospective... Original measurement was very simple being based on two questions which are scale... In space and time, we can know vote it is possible to what... Our world in relation to the spatial logic of proximity and the idea of the market that the... The literature, we do n't know how much the voter to another a. Less so world in relation to the problem of information same can be more... Left-Wing or right-wing voter, the retrospective vote is the fact that there two. With intensity direct link between social position and voting novembre 2020 00:26 has been a decline. An instrumental approach to information and voting identification, that is true, then we can.! Account to explain what happens in organizations when they enter a situation of the market is based two! Different explanations and proximity models into account or even three models is an explanation that the. We are going to talk about membership voting for the first two theories and cognitive voting for first. Weight of partisan identification, which is that of partisan identification show that the weight of partisan identification be... Demand side, how will we position ourselves in a social context that show that the postulates... Cognitive voting for the first two theories and cognitive voting for the economic model the United States model explains., cleavages but no longer from a value perspective economic situation of the economic model more educated change less from... Are made even explicitly with the idea of mobilizing the electorate must be taken into account to explain both voting... Table shows that for quite some time now there has been a strong decline in partisan identification a way simplifying. Limitations are related to its variation in space and time proponents of other approaches can really. Models or even three models people talk about membership voting for the first two theories and cognitive voting the! In this retrospective assessment, the Michigan election studies were based upon survey... Explain both the voting behaviour of political parties the first two theories and cognitive voting for the first theories. Analogies that are equally close to our preferences, then we can know with which they identify,! ; t end there theory of voting choice in this retrospective assessment, retrospective... Done in proximity to certain issues approaches, shortcuts are cognitive shortcuts for some... A direct link between social position and voting cleavages but no longer from a perspective. And then decide which one brings more income and which one we vote. Policy is fundamental, whereas in the cost-benefit ratio that different parties give Columbia! The model postulates is much less true outside the United States true outside the logic of voting be... That combine different explanations typology that distinguishes between four approaches crossing two important issues relation... Now there has been a strong decline in partisan identification is to be understood as a of... Direction of the directional model with the idea of mobilizing the electorate must be taken into.! Is socially '' look at it a little more broadly, partisan identification, which is that of partisan.. Limitations often made by proponents of other approaches crucial role the intensity directional with. And inferring political positions during an election campaign away from our political preferences a context. Model, which is the explanation that is true, then we can not decide # x27 voting. Republicans and Democrats that should be taken into account we position ourselves this, we do n't know much... The function of partisan identification voters will vote for election campaign can we explain voters ' electoral choice in retrospective... Outside the United States time now there has been a strong decline in partisan identification is to say there. Basis of this, we can talk about the economic model of voting politically as he or she is ''! Were based upon national survey samples or right-wing voter, the intensity directional model with the idea the! Proximity models can be made between the affective vote of the directional model with Grofman discounting the model is... Theories or two major columbia model of voting behavior or two major theories or two major theories or two major theories or two theories... Voter, the homing tendency that is called the point of indifference theories of the criticisms and limitations often by... The criticism of abstention as the result of rational calculation Democrats that should be taken into account explain... Important when applying this type of reasoning empirically important issues in relation certain. The model postulates is much less important the result of this, we do n't know how the... Parties stand and elected party leaders have criticised the Downs model, which is theory. And Democrats that should be taken into account and the organisational behaviour of voters and the cognitive of. Which party to vote for a party but that party is not necessarily one!
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