Political Behavior

, Volume 13, Issue 4, pp 303–320 | Cite as

Voter behavior under STV-PR: Solving the puzzle of the Irish party system

  • Shaun Bowler
  • David M. Farrell
Article

Abstract

This paper examines voter preferences when voters are allowed to rank order large numbers of candidates both within and between different parties (STV-PR). How voters complete such a ballot has consequences both for models of voting behaviour and also for patterns of party competition. More concretely, although such a system should promote a great deal of candidate centered voting behaviour, this does not, in fact, seem to occur for the case we examine. While Irish voters do seem to exhibit multiple party loyalties they are, nevertheless, party and not candidate specific loyalties. The consequences of this for both a Michigan account of party loyalty and also standard interpretations of Irish party competition are discussed.

Keywords

Vote Behaviour Party System Standard Interpretation Voter Preference Political Psychology 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Plenum Publishing Corporation 1991

Authors and Affiliations

  • Shaun Bowler
    • 1
  • David M. Farrell
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of Political ScienceUniversity of CaliforniaRiverside
  2. 2.Department of GovernmentUniversity of ManchesterUK

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