Ezrow, Lawrence and Böhmelt, Tobias and Lehrer, Roni and Ward, Hugh (2021) Follow the foreign leader? Why following foreign incumbents is an effective electoral strategy. Party Politics, 27 (4). pp. 716-729. DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068819884702
Ezrow, Lawrence and Böhmelt, Tobias and Lehrer, Roni and Ward, Hugh (2021) Follow the foreign leader? Why following foreign incumbents is an effective electoral strategy. Party Politics, 27 (4). pp. 716-729. DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068819884702
Ezrow, Lawrence and Böhmelt, Tobias and Lehrer, Roni and Ward, Hugh (2021) Follow the foreign leader? Why following foreign incumbents is an effective electoral strategy. Party Politics, 27 (4). pp. 716-729. DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068819884702
Abstract
Previous research suggests that political parties respond to left–right policy positions of successful foreign political parties (“foreign leaders”). We evaluate whether this is an effective electoral strategy: specifically, do political parties gain votes in elections when they respond to successful foreign parties? We argue that parties that follow foreign leaders will arrive at policy positions closer to their own (domestic) median voter, which increases their electoral support. The analysis is based on a two-stage model specification of parties’ vote shares and suggests that following foreign leaders is a beneficial election strategy in national election because it allows them to better identify the position of their own median voter. These findings have important implications for our understanding of political representation, parties’ election strategies, and for policy diffusion.
Item Type: | Article |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | elections, parties’ election strategies, party policy positions, policy diffusion, political representation |
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences Faculty of Social Sciences > Government, Department of |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 18 Nov 2020 15:26 |
Last Modified: | 16 May 2024 20:05 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/26339 |
Available files
Filename: 3_Revised_Follow the Foreign Leader.pdf