Agree or disagree How do party leader changes affect the distribution of voters’ perceptions

• Published in: Party politics Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 66 - 75
• Main Author: Somer-Topcu, Zeynep
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.01.2017
• Subjects: Changes; Democracy; Perceptions; Political leadership; Political parties; Voters; Western Europe; voter perceptions; party organization; party policy; party leaders
• ISSN: 1354-0688; 1460-3683
• DOI: 10.1177/1354068816655568

Political party leaders are among the most influential actors in parliamentary democracies, and a change in party leadership is an important event for a party organization. Yet, we do not know how these leadership changes affect voter perceptions about party policy positions. On the one hand, we may expect party leadership changes to renew attention to the party, educate voters about its policy positions, and hence reduce disagreement among voters about party positions. On the other hand, rival parties may use a leadership change as an opportunity to defame the party, its leadership, and policies, and hence, increase voter confusion about the party’s policies. Using data from seven Western European democracies, I show that leadership changes help parties reduce voter disagreement about party policy positions. This effect is stronger if the new leader shifts the party’s policy positions.