A Re-examination of the Notions of Issue Engagement and Issue Avoidance

Abstract Despite extensive research on issue engagement, much remains to be learned. This article advances our understanding of issue competition in three ways. First, it examines whether political parties focus on the same issues in a setting with high electoral volatility, studying four Quebec elections from 2012 to 2022. Second, it assesses whether this trend is evident in both press releases and tweets. Third, it investigates why parties converge on the same issues. Findings reveal convergence levels in Quebec match other democracies and remain consistent across platforms. Ideologically similar parties are more likely to address the same issues. Two issue types are identified: peripheral, less visible issues and governance issues, consistently highlighted by all parties within a jurisdiction, reflecting a stable electoral agenda. These findings align with growing evidence that engagement dominates issue competition while demonstrating that convergence and divergence can occur around few key issues that remain relatively stable over time.