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Empirical investigation of party preferences and economic voting in Turkey
Author(s) -
BAŞLEVENT CEM,
KİRMANOĞLU HASAN,
ŞENATALAR BURHAN
Publication year - 2005
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.1475-6765.2005.00238.x
Subject(s) - voting , multinomial logistic regression , accession , economics , empirical research , test (biology) , logit , single non transferable vote , political science , public economics , european union , demographic economics , democracy , econometrics , international trade , law , epistemology , machine learning , computer science , biology , paleontology , philosophy , politics
. This article examines the factors that shape party preferences in Turkey by estimating an individual vote intention function that includes both economic and non‐economic factors. The economic variables can be used to test the familiar hypotheses of economic voting theory – whether individuals vote retrospectively and/or prospectively, and whether they are sociotropic and/or egotropic. The non‐economic factors include sociodemographic characteristics as well as identity and issue variables likely to be good predictors of party choice. The analysis focuses on comparing the characteristics of those who intend to vote for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) with those of other parties. According to multinomial logit estimates, young people, especially males, constitute the electoral base for the AKP. Those who have been affected adversely by recent economic developments, as well as those who are against Turkey's accession to the European Union are also more likely to vote for the AKP. The empirical work also provides evidence in support of economic voting hypotheses.