Ideological Clarity in Multiparty Competition: A New Measure and Test Using Election Manifestos

Abstract

Parties in advanced democracies take ideological positions as part of electoral competition, but some parties communicate their position more clearly than others. Existing research on democratic party competition has paid much attention to assessing partisan position taking in electoral manifestos, but it has largely overlooked how manifestos reflect the clarity of these positions. This article presents a scaling procedure that better reflects the data-generating process of party manifestos. This new estimator allows us to recover not only positional estimates, but also estimates for the ideological clarity or ambiguity of parties. The study validates its results using Monte Carlo tests, a manifesto-drafting simulation and a human coding exercise. Finally, the article applies the estimator to party manifestos in four multiparty democracies and demonstrates that ambiguity can enhance the appeal of parties with platforms that become more moderate, and lessen the appeal of parties with platforms that become more extreme.

Simple politics for the people? Complexity in campaign messages and political knowledge

“…By far, the most scrutinised strategies in this context are ideological shifts by political parties (Adams 2012;Adams et al 2005;Bischof & Wagner 2017;Downs 1957;Ezrow 2005;Ezrow et al 2014;Kitschelt 1994). In line with this, research also suggests that parties at times aim to blur their positions (Bräuninger & Giger 2016;Lo et al 2014;Rovny 2012a), a strategy that strives to present contradictory positions on the same policy issue. In line with this, research also suggests that parties at times aim to blur their positions (Bräuninger & Giger 2016;Lo et al 2014;Rovny 2012a), a strategy that strives to present contradictory positions on the same policy issue.…”

“…In addition, the salience parties attach to different issues (Klüver & Spoon 2015) and the ownership of specific issues are shown to persuade voters (Bélanger & Meguid 2008;Petrocik 1996). In line with this, research also suggests that parties at times aim to blur their positions (Bräuninger & Giger 2016;Lo et al 2014;Rovny 2012a), a strategy that strives to present contradictory positions on the same policy issue.…”

Still blurry? Economic salience, position and voting for radical right parties in Western Europe

“…However, a variety of recent works have illustrated the potential benefits of strategic obfuscation (Somer‐Topcu ; Bräuninger & Giger ; Lo et al. ; Han ). The core logic behind position blurring is the deliberate misrepresentation of issue distance between the party and its potential voters in order to build a broader support base and increase its vote share.…”

Analysis of Political Parties Representation in Parliament Influence Public Policy Formulation in Uganda’s Nascent Hydrocarbon Industry

“…According to Lo et al, (2014), party discipline is an important ingredient of strong party. Members of Parliament need to support their parties regardless of internal contradictions.…”