Is there clarity in ambiguity? A literature review of party’s positional ambiguity
| Autor: | Jonas Lefevere |
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| Rok vydání: | 2023 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Party Politics. :135406882311519 |
| ISSN: | 1460-3683 1354-0688 |
| Popis: | The issue positions of political actors are often ambiguous, resulting in uncertainty on the part of voters. Such ambiguity constitutes a challenge to representation, as it prevents voters from getting a clear understanding of parties’ positions. Ironically, despite growing interest in the concept, the concept itself is remarkably ambiguous: different studies use different conceptualisations of ambiguity, which hampers theory integration. This paper proposes a three-dimensional conceptualization of ambiguity: party positions are ambiguous to the extent that parties deemphasize them, remain vague or inconsistent on them. A review of 103 studies establishes the prevalence of these three dimensions in the literature, shows that most studies focus on a single dimension, and reveals lacunae in the current research on ambiguity. Based on the three-dimensional conceptualisation, the paper then develops a preliminary framework on the causes of ambiguity, outlines key gaps in the literature and suggests promising avenues of theory development. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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