Ideological Ambiguity and Political Spectrum

• Tác giả: Hector Galindo-Silva
• Ngôn ngữ: eng
• Ký hiệu phân loại: 320.5 Political ideologies
• Thông tin xuất bản: 2023
• Bộ sưu tập: Metadata
• ID: 197953

Tóm tắt

This study examines the relationship between ambiguity and the ideological positioning of political parties across the political spectrum. We identify a strong non-monotonic (inverted U-shaped) relationship between party ideology and ambiguity within a sample of 202 European political parties. This pattern is observed across all ideological dimensions covered in the data. To explain this pattern, we propose a novel theory that suggests centrist parties are perceived as less risky by voters compared to extremist parties, giving them an advantage in employing ambiguity to attract more voters at a lower cost. We support our explanation with additional evidence from electoral outcomes and economic indicators in the respective party countries.