Bernhard Weßels, Hans Rattinger, Sigrid Roßteutscher, and Rüdiger Schmitt-Beck (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- June 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199662630
- eISBN:
- 9780191756191
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199662630.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This book addresses electoral change, the reasons, and the consequences. By investigating heterogeneity of voting (part I) and complexity of voting and its context (part II) it shows that increasing ...
More
This book addresses electoral change, the reasons, and the consequences. By investigating heterogeneity of voting (part I) and complexity of voting and its context (part II) it shows that increasing heterogeneity is not arbitrary and unstructured. Heterogeneity of voting is rather an answer of voters to deal with increasing complexity of the context of elections—diversified social structures, increasing differentiation of political supply, increasing complexity of the information environment. By analysing the conditions of heterogeneity and showing that the calculus of voting becomes more and more conditional in terms of what voters regard as relevant criteria for vote choice, the book demonstrates that the new feature of electoral behavior is structured heterogeneity. The dimensions of differentiation of the electorate are cognitive capacity and the structure of individual information-acquisition systems. The book demonstrates that voters are rather on the move looking for appropriate answers to new complexities than on the run. The book mainly uses data from the German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES) and comparative data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES). Cross-sectional analysis is complemented by long- and short-term dynamic analyses with panel data and comparative analyses.Less
This book addresses electoral change, the reasons, and the consequences. By investigating heterogeneity of voting (part I) and complexity of voting and its context (part II) it shows that increasing heterogeneity is not arbitrary and unstructured. Heterogeneity of voting is rather an answer of voters to deal with increasing complexity of the context of elections—diversified social structures, increasing differentiation of political supply, increasing complexity of the information environment. By analysing the conditions of heterogeneity and showing that the calculus of voting becomes more and more conditional in terms of what voters regard as relevant criteria for vote choice, the book demonstrates that the new feature of electoral behavior is structured heterogeneity. The dimensions of differentiation of the electorate are cognitive capacity and the structure of individual information-acquisition systems. The book demonstrates that voters are rather on the move looking for appropriate answers to new complexities than on the run. The book mainly uses data from the German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES) and comparative data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES). Cross-sectional analysis is complemented by long- and short-term dynamic analyses with panel data and comparative analyses.
Bernhard Weßels, Hans Rattinger, Sigrid Roßteutscher, and Rüdiger Schmitt-Beck
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- June 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199662630
- eISBN:
- 9780191756191
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199662630.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The chapter discusses the challenges for electoral research facing increasingly fragmentation of voters’ behavior. It develops a framework identifying two dimensions as the core problem—increasing ...
More
The chapter discusses the challenges for electoral research facing increasingly fragmentation of voters’ behavior. It develops a framework identifying two dimensions as the core problem—increasing heterogeneity of voting and increasing heterogeneity of the context of voting. The chapter places the research questions dealt with in the book into this framework.Less
The chapter discusses the challenges for electoral research facing increasingly fragmentation of voters’ behavior. It develops a framework identifying two dimensions as the core problem—increasing heterogeneity of voting and increasing heterogeneity of the context of voting. The chapter places the research questions dealt with in the book into this framework.
