Party competition over decentralisation: the influence of ideology and electoral incentives on issue emphasis

Toubeau, Simon; Wagner, Markus

Abstract

Under what conditions is decentralisation a salient issue for state-wide political parties? It is argued in this article that the extent to which state-wide parties emphasise decentralisation depends on their strategic considerations: on their overall ideology, on the electoral incentives created by the context in which they compete, and on the interaction between the two. The results of the analysis of party manifestos in 31 countries since 1945 are as follows. First, parties that pay greater attention to cultural matters relative to economic matters tend to talk more about decentralisation. Second, the systemic salience of decentralisation also encourages parties to talk more about decentralisation. Third, the larger the regionally based ethnic groups within a country, the more salience all state-wide political parties will attach to decentralisation. Finally, only parties that put greater relative emphasis on cultural matters tend to respond to the electoral threat of regionalist parties. The influence of territorial diversity on the salience of decentralisation thus works through two channels and is partly conditioned by political parties’ ideological profile.

Citation

Toubeau, S., & Wagner, M. (in press). Party competition over decentralisation: the influence of ideology and electoral incentives on issue emphasis. European Journal of Political Research, 55(2), https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12133

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 1, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Feb 14, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jul 12, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 12, 2016
• Journal: European Journal of Political Research
• Print ISSN: 0304-4130
• Electronic ISSN: 1475-6765
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 55
• Issue: 2
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12133
• Keywords: decentralisation, political parties, ideology, political competition, ethnic diversity
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/776383
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1475-6765.12133/abstract
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: TOUBEAU, S. and WAGNER, M. (2016), Party competition over decentralisation: The influence of ideology and electoral incentives on issue emphasis. European Journal of Political Research, 55: 340–357, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12133. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
• Contract Date: Jul 12, 2016