Tracing the cognitive and affective roots of ‘party competence’: Italy and Britain, 2001

Issue ownership refers to political parties' recognized capacity or reputation to deal competently with a number of issues and problems. Canadian perceptions of party competence in five issue areas are examined: unemployment, inflation, national unity, public finance management and international affairs. Using aggregate-level Gallup poll data from a 50-year period, the study shows not only that Canadians distinguish between federal parties based on their issue-handling capabilities, but also that party images are not impervious to change. Two particular moments of realignment in party images are identified: the beginning of the 1960s, and the early 1990s. The image of the federal Liberal party clearly benefited from both periods. Beyond the expected projection effect of party popularity, two factors are shown to account at least partially for these variations over time in issue ownership. The parties' performance while in office and the arrival of new competitors within the party system in the 1993 election are both found to significantly affect perceptions of party competence in Canada.

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Do Canadians Distinguish Between Parties? Perceptions of Party Competence

Canadian Journal of Political Science ◽

10.1017/s0008423900012270 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 317-333 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Richard Nadeau ◽

André Blais

Keyword(s):

Democratic Party ◽

Conservative Party ◽

Perceived Competence ◽

Government Performance ◽

International Affairs ◽

Gallup Poll ◽

Party Competence ◽

Poll Data ◽

New Democratic Party

AbstractThis study examines perceptions of party competence in four issue areas: inflation, unemployment, international affairs and Canadian unity. Using Gallup poll data from a 35-year period, the study shows that in three of the four issue areas Canadians clearly distinguish between parties. These distinctions do not merely reflect party popularity and are durable rather than immutable; perceptions change slowly but do respond to government performance. Canadians see the greatest differences between parties with respect to international affairs and Canadian unity; the Liberals enjoy a substantial lead on these two questions. On inflation, perceived competence tends to reflect popularity while on unemployment, Canadians have greater confidence in the New Democratic party. On all issues, the Conservative party image has substantially improved under the Mulroney government.

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Erratum: Economic Conditions and Party Competence: Processes of Belief Revision

The Journal of Politics ◽

10.2307/2131338 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 49 (2) ◽

pp. 653-653

Keyword(s):

Belief Revision ◽

Economic Conditions ◽

Party Competence

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Terror attacks, issue salience, and party competence: Diagnosing shifting vote preferences in a panel study

Party Politics ◽

10.1177/1354068819890060 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 135406881989006

Author(s):

S Erdem Aytaç ◽

Ali Çarkoğlu

Keyword(s):

Panel Data ◽

Abrupt Change ◽

Panel Study ◽

Perceived Competence ◽

Political Context ◽

Issue Salience ◽

Terror Attacks ◽

Security Concerns ◽

Dramatic Shift ◽

Party Competence

How does a dramatic shift in political context that renders security concerns the most salient electoral issue influences voting? To address this question, we take advantage of the peculiar timing of elections and heightened terror attacks in Turkey with the use of original panel data. The June 2015 Turkish general election resulted in a hung parliament, and a snap election was held in November. While the period before June was relatively calm, the inter-election period witnessed an upsurge of terror attacks and casualties. A three-wave panel enables us to track how voters’ electoral preferences changed over this period. Our analyses suggest that the terror attacks led voters to prioritize parties’ perceived competence in addressing security concerns at the ballot box. The abrupt change in issue salience has bolstered support for the incumbent Justice and Development Party which was evaluated by voters as more competent than other parties.

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