Optimal party strategies on niche issues: a computational approach to multiparty competition for position and salience

Abstract How should parties respond to competition from a new challenger on a niche issue? Meguid argues that accommodation is effective, but recent evidence shows it may cost votes. We identify vote-maximizing strategies of established parties facing an extreme challenger using an extended Downsian model with position and salience. Based on empirical data from Germany, our results show that accommodation works only for low-valence parties, and only while the challenger is new. Otherwise, adversarial strategies benefit small parties. Major established parties maximize votes by holding moderate positions and engaging weakly with the issue. Our findings offer a theoretical baseline for understanding optimal strategies in party competition.