Department of Political Science

TY - JOUR

T1 - Parties' Policy Adjustments in Response to Changes in Issue Saliency

AU - Abou-Chadi, Tarik

AU - Green-Pedersen, Christoffer

AU - Mortensen, Peter Bjerre

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - A number of studies have investigated when parties change their policy positions. However, this growing body of research has had limited interaction with the literature on issue competition. To bring these two perspectives together, this article investigates how and when parties adjust their respective policy positions on immigration, the environment and the welfare state. In the article it is argued that especially large parties in electoral terms adjust their policy positions on specific issues in response to changes in the party system saliency of these issues. When the other parties increase their focus on a given issue, large parties adjust their position in the direction preferred by a majority of the voters. In the article this argument is investigated empirically, based on CMP data from 18 West European countries from 1980 to 2014. The findings largely support the argument and show a strong potential for further integration of the two dominant perspectives on party competition.

AB - A number of studies have investigated when parties change their policy positions. However, this growing body of research has had limited interaction with the literature on issue competition. To bring these two perspectives together, this article investigates how and when parties adjust their respective policy positions on immigration, the environment and the welfare state. In the article it is argued that especially large parties in electoral terms adjust their policy positions on specific issues in response to changes in the party system saliency of these issues. When the other parties increase their focus on a given issue, large parties adjust their position in the direction preferred by a majority of the voters. In the article this argument is investigated empirically, based on CMP data from 18 West European countries from 1980 to 2014. The findings largely support the argument and show a strong potential for further integration of the two dominant perspectives on party competition.

KW - Issue competition

KW - environment

KW - immigration

KW - niche parties

KW - party position

KW - party size

U2 - 10.1080/01402382.2019.1609296

DO - 10.1080/01402382.2019.1609296

M3 - Journal article

VL - 43

SP - 749

EP - 771

JO - West European Politics

JF - West European Politics

SN - 0140-2382

IS - 4

ER -