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THE POTENTIALITY OF DIMENSIONAL ANALYSES FOR EXPLAINING VOTING AND PARTY COMPETITION [1]
Author(s) -
BUDGE IAN,
FARLIE DENNIS
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
european journal of political research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.267
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1475-6765
pISSN - 0304-4130
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6765.1978.tb00557.x
Subject(s) - voting , competition (biology) , space (punctuation) , antecedent (behavioral psychology) , positive economics , focus (optics) , economics , convergence (economics) , disapproval voting , econometrics , computer science , microeconomics , political science , psychology , social psychology , law , politics , macroeconomics , physics , optics , biology , operating system , ecology
Our review and evaluation focus on the theoretical adequacy of spatial representations of voting and party competition based on survey data. Key assumptions underlying discussion are: (1) voting cannot be properly explained without regard to party competition and vice versa; (2) the type of input crucially determines the nature of the space produced; (3) there is a basic and far‐reaching distinction between pure policy‐spaces with untrammelled party movement, and other spaces used to represent voting and party competition; (4) explanation requires the use of variables conceptually and if possible temporally antecedent to voting choice. Judged by these criteria current dimensional analyses reveal severe technical limitations (Section 2) and formalizations of their associated hypotheses also reveal theoretical limitations (Section 3). Both prompt an examination and formalization of other approaches not yet common in dimensional analysis (Section 4), which enhance its explanatory potential and foster convergence with other research.