The consequences of supply gaps in two‐dimensional policy spaces for voter turnout and political support: The case of economically left‐wing and culturally right‐wing citizens in Western Europe

Parties with left‐wing positions on economic issues and right‐wing (i.e., authoritarian) positions on cultural issues have been historically largely absent from the supply side of the policy space of Western European democracies. Yet, many citizens hold such left‐authoritarian issue attitudes. This...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEuropean journal of political research Vol. 59; no. 2; pp. 331 - 353
Main Authors HILLEN, SVEN, STEINER, NILS D.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.05.2020
Subjects
Authoritarianism
Citizens
Democracy
Efficacy
Left wing politics
left‐authoritarians
National elections
policy space
Political parties
political support
Right wing politics
Satisfaction
supply gap
Supply-side economics
Voter behavior
Voter turnout
Voting
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Summary:Parties with left‐wing positions on economic issues and right‐wing (i.e., authoritarian) positions on cultural issues have been historically largely absent from the supply side of the policy space of Western European democracies. Yet, many citizens hold such left‐authoritarian issue attitudes. This article addresses the hypotheses that left‐authoritarian citizens are less likely to vote, less satisfied with the democratic process and have lower levels of political trust when there is a left‐authoritarian supply gap. Using data for 14 Western European countries from the European Social Survey 2008 in the main analysis, it is shown that left‐authoritarians are less likely to vote and exhibit lower levels of satisfaction with democracy and political trust. A supplementary analysis of national election studies from Finland before and after the electoral breakthrough of the left‐authoritarian True Finns Party in 2011 indicates that whether left‐authoritarians participate less and believe less in the efficacy of voting is contingent on the presence of a strong left‐authoritarian party. This study illuminates how constrained party supply in a two‐dimensional policy space can affect voter turnout as well as political support, and has broader implications for the potential further rise of left‐authoritarian challenger parties.
ISSN:0304-4130
1475-6765
DOI:10.1111/1475-6765.12348