On behalf of the editorial board, the editors of Government and Opposition are pleased to announce the winners of the annual ‘best article’ prize, named in memory of long- time editorial board member Elizabeth Meehan (1947– 2018). This prize is offered to the non-commissioned, peer-reviewed, original research article published during the previous calendar year that the editorial board members believe best represents the scholarly excellence of the journal and the tradition of commitment to public dis- course on important topics in comparative politics that Government and Opposition has maintained for more than fifty years.
The prize-winning article for Volume 55 (2020) is by Dr Remko Voogd, Wagen- ingen University and Dr Ruth Dassonville, Université du Quebec à Montreal: ‘Are the Supporters of Populist Parties Loyal Voters? Dissatisfaction and Stable Voting for Populist Parties’.
The paper provides an important building block to move beyond assumed divi- sions in political behaviour between voters for populist and non-populist parties in future research. Using data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems project, the authors show that voters for populist parties are neither more nor less volatile than voters for mainstream parties. Political dissatisfaction among voters for populist parties even increases the likelihood of stable voting for populist parties. The supply of populist parties, they find, further conditions the stability of the populist vote, as voters in systems with established populist parties are more likely to vote stably for populist parties. Finally, in a context of strong and stable populist parties, the effect of political satisfaction on vote switching is found to be somewhat reduced.
Voogd, R., and Dassonneville, R. (2020). ‘Are the Supporters of Populist Parties Loyal Voters? Dissatisfaction and Stable Voting for Populist Parties’. Government and Opposition: An International Journal of Comparative Politics, 55(3), 349–370. https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2018.24.
We are very pleased to have selected this article. It showcases the importance of rigor- ous comparative research for undercovering the nuanced array of factors that motivate citizens to act. This was an issue of central importance to Professor Meehan's work. We particularly welcome the contribution to shifting the lens through which the scholars view the populist/non-populist party divide and believe this work represents a very significant contribution in an exciting and important field of study.
