Journal Articles

Are Less-Involved Voters the Key to Win Elections?

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The literature highlights how different individual levels of political interest and knowledge matter for political attitudes
and behavior. A logical-quantitative voting model is thus proposed for a two-party system, based on voters' left—right
ideological positions and their degree of political involvement. The model hypothesizes that although more involved
voters generally behave in accordance with their ideological orientation, those who are less involved do not.
Moreover, the latter tend to be more undecided and therefore likely to be more strongly influenced by campaign activities. This model is then applied to survey data regarding the 2001 Italian general elections. Results confirm the hypotheses and show that the most competitive area is ideologically a narrow centrist area for very involved citizens, becoming wider as the level of involvement decreases. Separate analyses are carried out for different geopolitical areas of the country, with results fitting the political history of these areas.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Comparative Political Studies

Call Number

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Publisher

: Sage Publications., 2008

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

0010-4140

Classification

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Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Vol. 41, No. 2, February 2008. Page 217-241

Subject(s)

Elections
Parties
Interest
Knowledge
Political involvement
Logical quantitative model
Italy
Are Less-Involved Voters the Key to Win Elections

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