Unified Theory of Voting : Directional and Proximity Spatial Models

by Merrill, III, Samuel

• ISBN13: 9780511033698
• ISBN10: 0511033699
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1999-09-13
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This book addresses the questions: how do voters use their own issue positions and those of candidates to decide how to vote? Does a voter tend to choose the candidate who most closely shares the views of the voter or rather a candidate who holds more extreme views due to the fact that the voters discount the candidates' abilities to implement policy. The authors develop a unified model that incorporates these and other voter motivations and assess its empirical predictions - for both voter choice and candidate strategy - in the US, Norway, and France. The analyses show that a combination of proximity, direction, discounting, and party ID are compatible with the mildly but not extremely divergent policies that are characteristic of many two-party and multiparty electorates. All of these motivations are necessary to understand the linkage between candidate issue positions and voter preferences.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures	p. ix
Acknowledgements	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Models of Voter Behavior	p. 17
Alternative Models of Issue Voting	p. 19
A Unified Model of Issue Voting: Proximity, Direction, and Intensity	p. 38
Comparing the Empirical Fit of the Directional and Proximity Models for Voter Utility Functions	p. 52
Empirical Model Fitting Using the Unified Model: Voter Utility	p. 67
Empirical Fitting of Probabilistic Models of Voter Choice in Two-Party Electorates	p. 81
Empirical Fitting of Probabilistic Models of Voter Choice in Multiparty Electorates	p. 91
Models of Party or Candidate Behavior and Strategy	p. 107
Equilibrium Strategies for Two-Candidate Directional Spatial Models	p. 109
Long-Term Dynamics of Voter Choice and Party Strategy	p. 128
Strategy and Equilibria in Multicandidate Elections	p. 144
Strategy Under Alternative Multicandidate Voting Procedures	p. 158
Postscript: Taking Stock of What's Been Done and What Still Needs to Be Done	p. 164
Appendices	p. 170
Glossary of Symbols	p. 195
References	p. 196
Index	p. 207
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