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Photo of Jonathan Polk. Photo.

Jonathan Polk

Professor

Photo of Jonathan Polk. Photo.

Voter Responses to Social Democratic Ideological Moderation after the Third Way

Author

  • Jonathan Polk
  • Johannes Karreth

Editor

  • Silja Häusermann
  • Herbert Kitschelt

Summary, in English

To what extent does moderation in ideological positioning by social democratic parties affect their short- and long-term electoral fortunes? Do existing social democratic electorates respond differently to moderation from the major parties of the Moderate Left on the economic as opposed to the cultural dimension? Previous research suggests that social democratic parties received an influx of centrist voters post-moderation but that these new centrist voters were less attached to the party and left in later elections, as did left-leaning social democrats frustrated by moderation strategies. This chapter further probes whether there is a link between moderation and individual voters’ shifts from social democratic parties at a later point, by considering a larger number of cases and by differentiating between the economic and cultural dimensions. We examine individual-level data on voting behavior combined with information on mainstream left parties’ ideological shifts in up to fifty elections in sixteen countries over recent decades. The findings show that (a) moderation can have detrimental consequences in the longer term; (b) the consequences of moderation differ across the left-right and cultural dimensions of electoral competition; and (c) the combination of individual-level analysis, with broader contextual and systemic considerations, is essential to fully engage with these questions.

Department/s

  • Department of Political Science

Publishing year

2024

Language

English

Pages

279-313

Publication/Series

Beyond Social Democracy : The Transformation of the Left in Emerging Knowledge Societies

Document type

Book chapter

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Topic

  • Political Science (excluding Public Administration Studies and Globalization Studies)

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISBN: 9781009496810