A Cross-National Analysis of Party Switching

Though instances of party switching have been widely documented, there is little cross-national research on this phenomenon. The prevalence of switching is therefore unknown, and the factors influencing this behavior remain unclear. Using the most comprehensive dataset on party switching ever constr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Legislative studies quarterly 2013-02, Vol.38 (1), p.111-141
Main Authors: O'brien, Diana Z., Shomer, Yael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ballots
Correlation
Cross-national analysis
Difference
Documentation
Electoral systems
Explanation
Legislators
Legislatures
Motivation
Parliamentary system
Political candidates
Political Parties
Preferential voting
Social Science Research
Variance
Voting
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Summary:Though instances of party switching have been widely documented, there is little cross-national research on this phenomenon. The prevalence of switching is therefore unknown, and the factors influencing this behavior remain unclear. Using the most comprehensive dataset on party switching ever constructed, we illustrate both that interparty movement is more common than previously assumed and that there are substantial differences in its prevalence across parties. To explain this variation, we examine the relationship between legislators' motivations, institutional arrangements, and switching. We find that motivational explanations are correlated with interparty movement and that institutional arrangements exhibit only limited direct influence on switching.
ISSN:0362-9805
1939-9162
DOI:10.1111/lsq.12005