Incumbency, Localness, or Accumulation? A Conjoint Experiment on Multiple-Mandate Holding

Multiple-mandate holding (MMH), i.e. the simultaneous exercise ofat least two directly elected political functions, is a widespread butcontroversial political practice. Theoretically it can be argued toconstitute a valuable personal vote earning attribute (PVEA)among candidates due to its’ combination of the incumbencyand local background traits, but previous scholarship has alsoshown that citizens tend to be quite critical towards it. However,whether and how the practice of MMH affects voter preferenceshas not been previously empirically explored. The purpose of thisstudy is thus to contribute to this line of research by exploringthe potential causal impact of the practice of MMH, making avaluable empirical contribution to scholarships of voterpreferences and candidate traits. We examine this question byutilising a conjoint survey experiment carried out in 2023 inFinland, a country that recently (in 2022) established a newregional government tier, thereby enabling the possibility forpoliticians of being simultaneously elected at three differentinstitutional levels. The results of the study confirm that MMH asa candidate trait has the potential to be disadvantageous forindividual candidates during elections.