Edward Fieldhouse, Jane Green, Geoffrey Evans, Jonathan Mellon, Christopher Prosser, Hermann Schmitt, and Cees van der Eijk
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198800583
- eISBN:
- 9780191840074
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198800583.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter sets out a novel theoretical approach for understanding electoral change. This approach focuses on the mechanisms and consequences of electoral shocks in the context of electoral ...
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This chapter sets out a novel theoretical approach for understanding electoral change. This approach focuses on the mechanisms and consequences of electoral shocks in the context of electoral volatility. The chapter sets out the reasons for focusing on shocks, a definition of electoral shocks, and the mechanisms through which shocks affect voting behaviour. We argue that the consequences of electoral shocks depend on how politicians respond to those shocks and compete around them, and how they are politicized in the wider media environment. The chapter explains why the gradual destabilization of the party system means that electoral shocks are having increasingly dramatic consequences.Less
This chapter sets out a novel theoretical approach for understanding electoral change. This approach focuses on the mechanisms and consequences of electoral shocks in the context of electoral volatility. The chapter sets out the reasons for focusing on shocks, a definition of electoral shocks, and the mechanisms through which shocks affect voting behaviour. We argue that the consequences of electoral shocks depend on how politicians respond to those shocks and compete around them, and how they are politicized in the wider media environment. The chapter explains why the gradual destabilization of the party system means that electoral shocks are having increasingly dramatic consequences.
