This book examines how social cleavage lines shape issue voting and party competition. Based on a study of German elections between 1980 and 1994, it analyzes whether cleavage group members put more weight on policies that address their personal self-interest than voters who are not affected by the cleavage line. Furthermore, it analyzes the consequences of cleavage groups' deviating patterns of voting behavior for the formal game of party competition. More concretely, the author asks whether equilibrium positions of parties within the policy space are pulled away from the mean due to the more extreme policy demands of cleavage groups in the electorate.

This book examines how social cleavage lines shape issue voting and party competition. Based on a study of German elections between 1980 and 1994, it analyzes whether cleavage group members put more weight on policies that address their personal self-interest than voters who are not affected by the cleavage line. Furthermore, it analyzes the consequences of cleavage groups' deviating patterns of voting behavior for the formal game of party competition. More concretely, the author asks whether equilibrium positions of parties within the policy space are pulled away from the mean due to the more extreme policy demands of cleavage groups in the electorate.

Das Buch liefert eine erste umfassende Analyse der komplexen Wechselwirkungen des Wahlerverhaltens und der Parteistrategien im deutschen Mischwahlsystem. Nach einer ausfuhrlichen Einfuhrung in die raumliche Theorie des Parteienwettbewerbs wird das Zusammenspiel von Politiknachfrage der Wahler und Politikangebot der Parteien in der Mehrheits- und der Verhaltniswahlkomponente bei Bundestagswahlen untersucht. Die Darstellung richtet sich somit an Politikwissenschaftler, Wahlrechtsexperten in Politik und Wissenschaft, Lehrende an Hochschulen und Journalisten gleichermassen.