Abstract
Commentators have frequently suggested that the political communications system has been transformed, at least in part, because of changes among its citizenry. These commentators contrast the apparent stability of voting behaviour in the 1940s and 1950s with the ‘volatility’ of the modern electorate. They suggest that voters have become less constrained by their social characteristics and less loyal to the parties than in the past. They suggest that voters have become more knowledgeable, more sophisticated and better able to choose between the parties on the basis of those issues discussed during the campaign. This rise of ‘issue voting’ has forced the parties to pay much greater attention to the conduct of campaigns and the quality of their communications.
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Notes
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Bartle, J. (2001). Changing Voters or Changing Models of Voting?. In: Bartle, J., Griffiths, D. (eds) Political Communications Transformed. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780333977286_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780333977286_2
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