One voter, two first-order elections?

Autor: Fred Cutler
Rok vydání: 2008
Předmět:
Zdroj: Electoral Studies. 27:492-504
ISSN: 0261-3794
DOI: 10.1016/j.electstud.2008.01.002
Popis: Conventional wisdom has it that elections other than national ones are “second-order elections,” driven by political conditions in the “first-order” national arena. It has not yet been shown that a sub- or supra-national election can exhibit qualities similar to those of first-order elections. This paper uses the 2003 Ontario Election Study, from a provincial election in extremely decentralized federation, to demonstrate that a sub-national election can be a first-order election. Aggregate evidence shows voters' interest and turnout is comparable to national elections. Individual-level evidence shows vote choice is determined by arena-specific factors. And dynamic evidence shows that this sub-national campaign had its own homegrown events that influenced voters, just as campaign events influence national elections.
Databáze: OpenAIRE