I vote NOTA: Ideological Expanses of Partisanship in India

Abstract

The relationship between ideology and partisanship is understudied in India. Using secondary data, we ask whether ideology predicts party preferences, and whether Indians can be clustered with respect to their ideological positions. To do so, we define ideology as differing along two dimensions: adherence to social norms and obedience to hierarchies. We find that a preference for hierarchies significantly determines which party is preferred compared to NOTA, whereas adherence to social norms significantly predicts voting for a number of left- and right-positioning parties. Second, a cluster analysis shows three clusters, which have been named “social reformists” for individuals who are left leaning on both dimensions, “disguised traditionalists” for those who are left leaning in terms of social norms, but right leaning in terms of adherence to hierarchies, and “traditionalists,” for those who are right leaning in terms of both dimensions. Implications and future directions are discussed.