IDEOLOGICAL VOTING: A CROSS-NATIONAL ANALYSIS OF LEFT-RIGHT ORIENTATIONS ON VOTING BEHAVIOR
IDEOLOGICAL VOTING: A CROSS-NATIONAL ANALYSIS OF LEFT-RIGHT ORIENTATIONS ON VOTING BEHAVIOR

Summary/Abstract: In this article, we evaluate the relationship between left-right orientations and voting preferences through analyzing voter behavior in 24 countries, by using data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems. We first evaluate the propensity for individuals to place themselves on a left-right scale as individual recognition of political space. We then estimate the strength of certain social characteristics and attitudes that correlate with use of the left-right schema as a form of ideological identification, as well as the relative strength of the left-right schema as an indicator of voter choice. In the final section, we consider macro-level factors that influence the variance found in ideological voting across cases. One of the main findings of the article is that in countries that had greater income disparity, we are more likely to observe ideological voting. The finding points to the importance that the left-right scale plays in structuring social conflict in the more traditional sense along class lines.

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