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Sharing is caring: the role of voter-candidate similarities in intra-party electoral competition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2018

Patrick F. A. van Erkel
Patrick F. A. van Erkel*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
*
*E-mail: patrick.vanerkel@uantwerpen.be
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Abstract

Previous studies have found similarities with presidential candidates or party leaders to be an important factor in explaining voting behaviour. However, with the exception of gender, few studies have structurally studied voter-candidate similarities in intra-party electoral competition. This study investigates the Belgian case and argues that voter-candidate similarities play a role in the decision-making process of citizens when casting preferential votes. Moreover, it investigates whether underrepresented groups, and especially women, are more guided by these voter-candidate similarities than overrepresented groups. To achieve this aim voter and candidate characteristics are modelled simultaneously. This enables an investigation of the decision-making process of voters while taking into account structural inequalities at the supply side. The results demonstrate that citizens are indeed more likely to cast preferential votes for candidates similar to themselves and that these effects are stronger for underrepresented groups. Hence, preferential voting could ultimately pave the way for better descriptive representation.

Keywords

preferential votingrepresentationelectoral behaviourelections
Type
Research Article
Information
European Political Science Review , Volume 11 , Issue 1 , February 2019 , pp. 75 - 89
Copyright
© European Consortium for Political Research 2018 

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