Mainstream or Niche? Vote-Seeking Incentives and the Programmatic Strategies of Political Parties

Parties can choose to concentrate on topics which other parties cover relatively little. In such cases, they have a programmatic niche profile compared with their mainstream rivals. We argue that parties should be more likely to switch between a niche and a mainstream profile in response to unsatisf...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Comparative political studies 2013-10, Vol.46 (10), p.1246-1272
Main Authors: Meyer, Thomas M., Wagner, Markus
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coding
Comparative analysis
Competition
Economic incentives
Election results
Electoral College
Electoral systems
Expectations
Hypothesis testing
Incentives
Multiparty system
Political Parties
Profiles
Rivalry
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Summary:Parties can choose to concentrate on topics which other parties cover relatively little. In such cases, they have a programmatic niche profile compared with their mainstream rivals. We argue that parties should be more likely to switch between a niche and a mainstream profile in response to unsatisfactory electoral results. However, these vote-seeking incentives to change salience profiles should have greater influence on parties that are small, young, and/or in opposition. Such parties will find it easier and more attractive to change their salience profiles. We use a measure of niche profiles based on manifesto coding and test our hypotheses in 22 countries with a transition model. For niche-to-mainstream transitions in party profiles, the results confirm our expectations, but vote-seeking incentives do not lead mainstream parties to shift to a niche profile. The results of this article have implications for our understanding of the dynamics of party competition in multiparty systems.
ISSN:0010-4140
1552-3829
DOI:10.1177/0010414013489080