Abstract
In this chapter, the theoretical framework of the book is applied to the class cleavage line to show that the theory is generalizable not only to various points in time, but also to various cleavage lines, even simultaneously. Two exemplary elections will be analyzed in which labor market issues played a significant role, namely the 1994 election, in which mass unemployment was a major issue, and the 1987 election, where the issue of a recent reform of §116 AFG (Employment Promotion Act), regulating the right to strike, featured prominently on the campaign agenda. The results show that in both cases it is the group with more homogeneous and extreme interests that places more emphasis on the respective labor market issue, thus differing to a larger degree in its issue weighting pattern. In both empirical cases the equilibrium configurations based on the extended vote model predict more divergent policy positions and thus perform slightly better in mapping the empirical configuration of perceived party positions. This indicates that the consideration of the electorate’s cleavage structure contributes to our understanding of optimal party behavior when competing for votes in the multidimensional policy space.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Unemployment numbers as reported by the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (BA): Arbeitslosigkeit im Zeitverlauf 02/2014.
- 2.
Throughout this chapter, I will refer to the party faction of CDU and CSU by only naming CDU, for matters of convenience.
- 3.
The data are stored and publicly available at the GESIS archive, by the identifier ZA 2600.
- 4.
Own translations.
- 5.
Own translation.
References
Aldrich JH, McKelvey RD (1977) A method of scaling with application to the 1968 and 1972 presidential elections. Am Polit Sci Rev 71:111–130
Gabriel OW, Vetter A (1998) Bundestagswahlen als Kanzlerwahlen? Kandidatenorientierungen und Wahlentscheidungen im parteienstaatlichen Parlamentarismus. In: Kaase M, Klingemann HD (eds) Wahlen und Wähler. Analysen aus Anlass der Bundestagswahl 1994. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen, pp 505–536
Hare C, Armstrong DA, Bakker R, Carroll R, Poole KT (2015) Using Bayesian Aldrich-McKelvey scaling to study citizens’ ideological preferences and perceptions. Am J Polit Sci 59(3):759–774. doi:10.1111/ajps.12151. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12151
Pappi FU, Shikano S (2002) Die politisierte Sozialstruktur als mittelfristige stabile Basis einer deutschen Normalwahl. Kölner Z Soziol Sozialpsychol 54(3):444–475
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kurella, AS. (2017). Empirical Application: The Class Cleavage. In: Issue Voting and Party Competition. Contributions to Political Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53378-0_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53378-0_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-53377-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-53378-0
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)