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A study of voting behaviour in an exceptional context: the 2017 Catalan election study

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Abstract

The Making Electoral Democracy Work project conducted a unique survey prior to the election held on 21 December 2017 in exceptional circumstances in Catalonia. In spite of a series of major events in fall 2017, overall election results were similar to those of the previous regional election, held in 2015. In addition to standard demographic, attitudinal, and vote choice questions, the survey included novel questions on identity, support for independence, perceptions of corruption, and acceptance of the result by losers. The data will be particularly useful to scholars seeking to assess the impact of long- and short-term factors on vote choice in such unusual circumstances, the crystallisation of public opinion, and voters’ willingness to accept that their side lost the election.

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Notes

  1. For more details about the 2015 election, see Orriols and Rodon (2016).

  2. Survey data can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/RR0NNQ. See Golder et al. (2017) for more about the 2012 Catalan regional election.

  3. Note that the Catalan government’s Centre d’estudis d’Opinió (CEO) and the Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials (ICPS) ran surveys with field dates in October and November. They were thus run before the changes in vote intentions that occurred between the end of November and 21 December. The Spanish government’s Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS) ran a pre-election survey with field dates in November. It did not include direct questions on Independence.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Grant No. 412-009-1004). The authors acknowledge the invaluable contribution of Ruth Dassonneville to question wording.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de science politique, Université de Montréal, Pavillon Lionel-Groulx, C. P. 6128, succ. Centre-ville, Montreal, QC, H3C 3J7, Canada

    Eric Guntermann & André Blais

  2. Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27, 08005, Barcelona, Spain

    Ignacio Lago

  3. Department of Political Science and Public Law, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Plaça Cívica, Campus de la UAB, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain

    Marc Guinjoan

Authors
  1. Eric Guntermann
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  2. André Blais
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  3. Ignacio Lago
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  4. Marc Guinjoan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eric Guntermann.

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Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Table 4 Demographic variables
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Table 5 Variables assessing political attitudes and turnout
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Table 6 Party preferences and vote choice variables
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Table 7 Variables measuring nationalism and independence support
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Table 8 Variables measuring evaluations of the economy, of governments, and of parties
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Guntermann, E., Blais, A., Lago, I. et al. A study of voting behaviour in an exceptional context: the 2017 Catalan election study. Eur Polit Sci 19, 288–301 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41304-018-0173-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41304-018-0173-8

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