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Title
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How issue salience pushes voters to the left or to the right
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Author
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Abstract
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| Recent research demonstrates that political parties in western Europe are generally structured along one dimension – and often take more or less similar ideological positions on the economic and cultural dimension – whereas the policy preferences of voters are structured two dimensionally; a considerable part of the electorate combines left-wing stances on one dimension with right-wing stances on the other. These ideologically ‘unserved’ voters are the main focus of this study. Using data from a large-scale survey in Flanders and Wallonia, we demonstrate how the salience of the two dimensions explains whether these unserved voters ultimately end up voting for a right-wing or a left-wing party. Specifically, we show that these voters elect a party that is ideologically closest on the dimension that they deem most important at that time. To summarise, the findings of this study confirm that salience is a key driver of electoral choice, especially for cross-pressured voters. |
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Language
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English
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Source (journal)
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Politics of the Low Countries. - Den Haag, 2019 - 2024
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Publication
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Den Haag
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Eleven International Publishing
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2020
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ISSN
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2589-9929
[Print]
2589-9937
[Online]
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DOI
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10.5553/PLC/258999292020002003005
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Volume/pages
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2
:3
(2020)
, p. 319-352
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Full text (Publisher's DOI)
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Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
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