Politicians’ Theories of Voting Behavior
While political scientists regularly engage in spirited theoretical debates about elections and voting behavior, few have noticed that elected politicians also have theories of elections and voting. Here, we investigate politicians’ positions on eight central theoretical debates in the area of elections and voting behavior and compare politicians’ theories to those held by ordinary citizens. Using data from face-to-face interviews with nearly one thousand politicians in 11 countries, together with corresponding surveys of more than twelve thousand citizens, we show that politicians overwhelmingly hold thin, minimalist, “democratic realist” theories of voting, while citizens’ theories are more optimistic and policy oriented. Politicians’ theoretical tendencies—along with their theoretical misalignment from citizens—are remarkably consistent across countries. These theories are likely to have important consequences for how politicians campaign, communicate with the public, think about public policy, and represent their constituents.
Authors
- Anne Rasmussen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9517-3929)
- Peter John Loewen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2690-4158)
- Mikael Persson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5377-2173)
- Patrick Dumont (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6124-8833)
- Jack Lucas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3498-7267)
- Jean‐Benoît Pilet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5612-0835)
- Lior Sheffer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4049-7299)
- Christian Breunig (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8074-6712)
- Stefaan Walgrave (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1814-1015)
- Nathalie Brack (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4496-6109)
- Sarah Lachance (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8341-6113)
- Eran Amsalem (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3135-9775)
- Stefanie Bailer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8646-6076)
- Miguel M. Pereira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6621-9863)
- Pirmin Bundi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5047-072X)
- Frédéric Varone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5620-3291)
- Karolin Soontjens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4615-510X)
- Linda Coufal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1678-8835)
- Maj-Britt Sterba (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4674-1694)
Institutions
- University of Geneva (CH)
- Australian National University (AU)
- Université Libre de Bruxelles (BE)
- University of Antwerp (BE)
- Tel Aviv University (IL)
- University of Calgary (CA)
- King's College London (GB)
- University of Basel (CH)
- University of Konstanz (DE)
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)
- Cornell University (US)
- Charles University (CZ)
- University of Gothenburg (SE)
- London School of Economics and Political Science (GB)
- University of Lausanne (CH)
Publication Details
- Journal
- American Political Science Review
- Published
- 2024-11-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003055424001060
- Citations
- 14
- Primary Topic
- Electoral Systems and Political Participation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 31.24
Funders
- University of Southern California
- Univerzita Karlova v Praze
- Universität Basel
- University of Cambridge
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Universiteit van Amsterdam
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Vetenskapsrådet
- Tel Aviv University
- Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond
- Universitetet i Bergen
- Göteborgs Universitet
- Universidade de Lisboa
- Université de Genève
- Université de Lausanne
- Forskningsrådet om Hälsa, Arbetsliv och Välfärd
- Universiteit Antwerpen
- Universität Konstanz
- Vlaamse regering
- Wageningen University and Research