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Issues and Party Support in Multiparty Systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Stuart Elaine Macdonald ,
Ola Listhaug  and
George Rabinowitz
Stuart Elaine Macdonald
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Ola Listhaug
Affiliation:
University of Trondheim
George Rabinowitz
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
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Abstract

We investigate the relationship between party issue position and mass evaluation of political parties in multiparty systems. In so doing, we engage two competing theories of mass-elite linkage: the directional theory and the traditional spatial theory of elections. The alternate models are evaluated with survey data gathered in Norway in 1989. The data collection is unique in providing extensive information on the issue positions of all parties with potential for achieving representation in the parliament. Results suggest that the directional theory provides a better description of the relationship. Consistent with directional theory, we find that when parties occupy a centrist position on an issue they are not evaluated on the basis of that issue. Voters neither love nor hate a party in the middle. Thus, in order to build support on the basis of issues, parties must offer some strong stands.

Type
Articles
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 85 , Issue 4 , December 1991 , pp. 1107 - 1131
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1991

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