Political Leaders and Democratic Elections unravels and evaluates
the importance of political leaders in the vote decision. Outcomes
of legislative elections are typically reported in terms of party
support: how many votes and seats were obtained by each party? But
in fact voters are faced with three choices which must be folded
into one. They must decide which party they prefer, but in doing so
they also choose among the policies advocated by these parties, and
among the leaders who eventually have to enact them. This simple
fact raises the question of the relative weight of these dimensions
in vote choice, and particularly the relative importance of
leaders. Surprisingly, the question has been largely neglected in
the vast literature on voting behavior. The dominant traditions in
voting behavior focus on political parties and party
identification, and on political issues and ideology respectively.
This volume systematically assesses the role of political leaders
in the vote decision in nine democracies (Australia, Britain,
Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the
United States), over a period of up to 50 years, using election
surveys. It assesses the changes in political communication
(particularly the rise of televized politics) over the past
decades. It explains how important political leaders are in
different types of political systems. It shows that the electoral
system and other political institutions do affect the share of
leader evaluations in vote choice. And it shows, in contrast with
popular wisdom, how unimportant characteristics of the leaders
themselves, characteristics of their parties, and characteristics
of their voters are for vote choice. Finally, the volume shows that
voters tend to let themselves be guided by the leaders they like
rather than being pushed away from those they dislike. Comparative
Politics is a series for students, teachers, and researchers of
political science that deals with contemporary government and
politics. Global in scope, books in the series are characterised by
a stress on comparative analysis and strong methodological rigour.
The series is published in association with the European Consortium
for Political Research. For more information visit:
www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr The Comparative Politics Series is edited by
Professor David M. Farrell, School of Politics and International
Relations, University College Dublin, Kenneth Carty, Professor of
Political Science, University of British Columbia, and Professor
Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Institute of Political Science, Philipps
University, Marburg.
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