The aim of this thesis was to explore the efficacy of the rational choice model in the electoral decision making of young people. The initial view was that this was too narrow a concept to apply to a real world situation. Therefore, consumer behaviour theory was reviewed in order to find out how marketers understand consumer decision making and explore if this could add anything to electoral decision making. Using an ideographic approach, this research revealed a number of different groups that did not conform to the rational choice model. Moreover, it was interesting to discover that many voter and non-voter groups exhibit what can be described as irrational behaviour. Using education as a key variable and the Elaboration Likelihood Model as an analytical framework, it was possible to identify the different ways in which the groups built up their political knowledge and what effect this had upon the extent of their engagement with the electoral process. Two models were developed that described the various groups and their electoral behaviour. The thesis concludes by suggesting that engagement is limited to a small number of groups and the level of engagement is determined by a complex mix of education, life stage and the notion of risk.

This research project assesses the role played by political sophistication in terms of itsimpact on the voters’ resort to cognitive shortcuts, with reference both to the consciousand non-conscious components of voting decisions. The investigation scrutinisesempirically the way both sophisticated and unsophisticated individuals make politicaljudgments when prompted with cognitive cues in three different settings. In each ofthem a specific type of cue impinges on the political judgment of individuals at adifferent level and leads to a specific decisional outcome. The overall findings castdoubts on the virtues of heuristic reasoning as effective remedy for voters who have tofind their bearings in the ballot box, but they also downplay the importance of politicalsophistication when visual or subliminal cues are involved in the decision. / Aquest projecte de recerca avalua el paper exercit per la sofisticació política en termesdel seu impacte sobre el recurs dels votants als atalls cognitius, amb referència tant alscomponents conscients i no conscients de les decisions de vot. La investigació examinaempíricament la manera com ambdós individus sofisticats i no sofisticats fan judicispolítics quan si li estimuli amb senyals cognitives de tres tipus diferents. En cada und'ells un tipus específic de atall incideix en el judici polític dels individus en un nivelldiferent i condueix a un resultat específic de presa de decisions. Els resultats generalsposen en dubte les virtuts del raonament heurístic com a remei eficaç per als votants ques’han d'orientar a les urnes, sinó que també minimitzen la importància de la sofisticaciópolítica, quan senyals visuals o subliminals estan involucrats en la decisió.

This master's thesis is dedicated to the issue of populism in politics. It has been designed as an exploration of the discourse of this phenomenon during the 2020 United States presidential elections. The goal of the thesis was to identify, describe and compare usage of populist elements by both main presidential candidates. Theory of Cas Mudde was chosen as the foundation. Theoretical part is split into two chapters which are devoted to the topics of populism and context of the American society. These segments introduce and define core concepts that will be subsequently used. Practical part is divided into two chapters as well. Initially, we present various aspects of the methodology of our qualitative research. It is based on the analysis of two presidential debates conducted through discursive-historical approach of critical discursive analysis. Henceforth, the following section is focused on the analysis and interpretation of acquired data. The output of this process is the exploration of the discourse as well as description and contrasting of populist tendencies of Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The analysis has shown presence of populist elements in both campaigns. Specifically, Biden's conception of the people is predominantly populist, whereas his approach towards elites and the will of the...

This Master's thesis looks into the phenomenon of party identification and explores various factors that play a role in the emergence, development and decline of partisanship. It follows and compares the changing levels of party identification in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands from the 1960s to the present day and strives to determine the causes and effects of this process. It is widely accepted that declining party identification is linked to increasing electoral volatility. This thesis draws upon a range of range of theoretical works in the field of electoral behaviour. It utilizes findings of an original small scale research among the British and Dutch voters as well as established election studies.

There was a record-breaking gain of seats that was based on preference votes in the 2010 election to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The aim of my diploma thesis is to determine whether the reason for the above was a more active and effective utilization of the voters' preference votes, or it was a result of the different rules for the preferential voting. The clarification of the reasons is based on the analyses of the quantity of used preference votes from the voters' side, their active participation, and the ability to accumulate votes for several selected candidates. The thesis compares the results of the last election and elections in 2002 and 2006 and explores the differences that had happened in the course of these three elections. The thesis is also focused on models of voting behavior. It monitors which characteristics represent the voters who give the preference votes, and on the contrary, which candidates' characteristics are important for these voters and which are irrelevant.

Esse trabalho busca apresentar os principais estudos, teorias e métodos de pesquisa da subdisciplina geografia eleitoral, desde os primeiros estudos de mapeamento eleitoral de André Siegfried, na França, e Frederick Turner, no EUA, até a perspectiva de análise eleitoral baseada nos lugares, de John Agnew. Em um segundo momento, discutimos os estudos sobre a influência do contexto no comportamento eleitoral. Argumentamos que os indivíduos do ponto de vista contextual seriam influenciados em dois níveis: por suas redes sociais de contato e de comunicação política, e pelo contexto geográfico ao seu redor, onde ocorrem as práticas sociais cotidianas. Na parte empírica do trabalho, usamos a técnica estatística de análise fatorial para identificar os períodos de mudança e estabilidade nos padrões espaciais de votação das eleições presidenciais de 1989 a 2014. Encontramos um período de estabilidade (voto normal) de 2006 a 2014, com uma clivagem regional norte/sul entre PT e PSDB. Por fim, a partir da hipótese que a mobilidade espacial e as redes de interação social modulariam a influência do contexto no comportamento eleitoral discutimos os resultados de uma análise de dados de surveys, aplicados na cidade de São Paulo em 2016. / This work seeks to present the main studies, theories, and research methods of the Electoral Geography subdiscipline, from the André Siegfrieds first studies of electoral mapping in France, the Frederick Turners in the United States, to the John Agnews place based electoral analysis perspective. After that, we discuss the studies about the context influence on electoral behaviour. We argue that, from the contextual point of view, individual electoral behaviour would be influenced on two levels: by its social networks of contacts and political communication, and by its surrounding geographical context, where everyday social interactions occur. In the empirical section of our work, we use the factorial analysis statistical technique to identify the periods of change and stability of spatial patterns during the presidential elections from 1989 to 2014. We find a stability period (normal vote) from 2006 to 2014, with a North-South regional cleavage between PT party and PSDB party. Finally, through the hypothesis that spatial mobility and networks of social interaction modulate contexts influence on electoral behaviour, we discuss the results of an analysis of data from a survey held in São Paulo city in 2016.

Le vote pour le mouvement réformateur est-il un vote pour la démocratie ? Dans ce mémoire, nous avons mis à l’épreuve l’hypothèse selon laquelle le caractère plus démocratique des partis associés au mouvement réformateur tend automatiquement à attirer les électeurs plus démocrates. Pour ce faire, nous avons utilisé des données de sondage qui nous ont aidés à dégager les attitudes et les caractéristiques des électeurs et à les mettre en relation avec leur vote. Ainsi, nous avons dressé le portrait de l’électorat iranien et nous en avons mis en évidence les caractéristiques sociodémographiques déterminant le vote. Nos résultats montrent que, conformément à nos hypothèses et à l’interprétation générale qui est faite des élections iraniennes, l’âge et le niveau d’éducation présentent une corrélation avec le choix électoral dans le sens attendu, qui prévoit qu’un électorat plus jeune et plus éduqué vote pour le mouvement réformateur. En revanche, en ce qui concerne le sexe et le degré d’urbanisation, nos résultats vont à l’encontre de nos hypothèses et des suppositions liées au comportement électoral en Iran. Nous démontrons que les femmes sont en réalité plus nombreuses à voter pour le mouvement conservateur et que les choix électoraux des habitants des villes et de ceux des villages ne diffèrent pas. Nous avons également vérifié la relation entre les attitudes et le vote. Nos résultats révèlent que les électeurs ayant une attitude plus positive envers la démocratie, reconnaissant plus de droits aux femmes, moins religieux et économiquement plus libéraux, sont plus nombreux à voter pour le mouvement réformateur. Nous reconnaissons, en conclusion, l’impact des attitudes envers la démocratie sur le choix électoral en Iran ainsi que l’effet d’autres attitudes liées à l’égalité, à la religion et à l’économie. Nous affirmons surtout que ces attitudes départagent aussi bien, sinon mieux, la population iranienne par rapport à ses choix électoraux que les caractéristiques telles que le sexe ou le degré d’urbanisation. / Is voting for the reform movement in Iran tantamount to voting for democracy? It is conceived that the more democratic characteristics of the reformist political parties in Iran; automatically provide them with the support of the more democratically oriented voters. In this thesis, we put this theory to the test. To do so, we use survey data (World Values Survey 2001) to identify voters’ attitudes and attributes in relation to their vote choice. We first depict the Iranian electorate by exploring the sociodemographic determinants of their vote. Only some of our hypothesis based on the general understandings and mainstream analysis of elections in Iran are validated. Age and education seem to have an impact in vote choice. Younger and more educated voters tend to vote in bigger numbers for the reformist movement. Contrary to our assumptions though, women tend to vote more for the conservative movement and urbanism has no effect on the vote. Then, in order to answer the initial question of this research we study the correlation between the respondents’ attitudes and their votes. We demonstrate that a positive attitude toward democracy, according equal rights to women, a lower level of religiosity, and economic liberalism are all positively correlated with a vote in favour of the reformist movement. We therefore illustrate the importance of the attitudes, particularly those toward democracy, in the electoral behaviour of Iranian voters. We also point out the impact of other attitudinal factors concerning equality, religion and economy. Our results tend to indicate that these factors are at least just as useful that factors such as sex or urbanism, into portraying the stratification of the Iranian society with regards to its vote choice.

Le vote pour le mouvement réformateur est-il un vote pour la démocratie ? Dans ce mémoire, nous avons mis à l’épreuve l’hypothèse selon laquelle le caractère plus démocratique des partis associés au mouvement réformateur tend automatiquement à attirer les électeurs plus démocrates. Pour ce faire, nous avons utilisé des données de sondage qui nous ont aidés à dégager les attitudes et les caractéristiques des électeurs et à les mettre en relation avec leur vote. Ainsi, nous avons dressé le portrait de l’électorat iranien et nous en avons mis en évidence les caractéristiques sociodémographiques déterminant le vote. Nos résultats montrent que, conformément à nos hypothèses et à l’interprétation générale qui est faite des élections iraniennes, l’âge et le niveau d’éducation présentent une corrélation avec le choix électoral dans le sens attendu, qui prévoit qu’un électorat plus jeune et plus éduqué vote pour le mouvement réformateur. En revanche, en ce qui concerne le sexe et le degré d’urbanisation, nos résultats vont à l’encontre de nos hypothèses et des suppositions liées au comportement électoral en Iran. Nous démontrons que les femmes sont en réalité plus nombreuses à voter pour le mouvement conservateur et que les choix électoraux des habitants des villes et de ceux des villages ne diffèrent pas. Nous avons également vérifié la relation entre les attitudes et le vote. Nos résultats révèlent que les électeurs ayant une attitude plus positive envers la démocratie, reconnaissant plus de droits aux femmes, moins religieux et économiquement plus libéraux, sont plus nombreux à voter pour le mouvement réformateur. Nous reconnaissons, en conclusion, l’impact des attitudes envers la démocratie sur le choix électoral en Iran ainsi que l’effet d’autres attitudes liées à l’égalité, à la religion et à l’économie. Nous affirmons surtout que ces attitudes départagent aussi bien, sinon mieux, la population iranienne par rapport à ses choix électoraux que les caractéristiques telles que le sexe ou le degré d’urbanisation. / Is voting for the reform movement in Iran tantamount to voting for democracy? It is conceived that the more democratic characteristics of the reformist political parties in Iran; automatically provide them with the support of the more democratically oriented voters. In this thesis, we put this theory to the test. To do so, we use survey data (World Values Survey 2001) to identify voters’ attitudes and attributes in relation to their vote choice. We first depict the Iranian electorate by exploring the sociodemographic determinants of their vote. Only some of our hypothesis based on the general understandings and mainstream analysis of elections in Iran are validated. Age and education seem to have an impact in vote choice. Younger and more educated voters tend to vote in bigger numbers for the reformist movement. Contrary to our assumptions though, women tend to vote more for the conservative movement and urbanism has no effect on the vote. Then, in order to answer the initial question of this research we study the correlation between the respondents’ attitudes and their votes. We demonstrate that a positive attitude toward democracy, according equal rights to women, a lower level of religiosity, and economic liberalism are all positively correlated with a vote in favour of the reformist movement. We therefore illustrate the importance of the attitudes, particularly those toward democracy, in the electoral behaviour of Iranian voters. We also point out the impact of other attitudinal factors concerning equality, religion and economy. Our results tend to indicate that these factors are at least just as useful that factors such as sex or urbanism, into portraying the stratification of the Iranian society with regards to its vote choice.

Esse trabalho busca apresentar os principais estudos, teorias e métodos de pesquisa da subdisciplina geografia eleitoral, desde os primeiros estudos de mapeamento eleitoral de André Siegfried, na França, e Frederick Turner, no EUA, até a perspectiva de análise eleitoral baseada nos lugares, de John Agnew. Em um segundo momento, discutimos os estudos sobre a influência do contexto no comportamento eleitoral. Argumentamos que os indivíduos do ponto de vista contextual seriam influenciados em dois níveis: por suas redes sociais de contato e de comunicação política, e pelo contexto geográfico ao seu redor, onde ocorrem as práticas sociais cotidianas. Na parte empírica do trabalho, usamos a técnica estatística de análise fatorial para identificar os períodos de mudança e estabilidade nos padrões espaciais de votação das eleições presidenciais de 1989 a 2014. Encontramos um período de estabilidade (voto normal) de 2006 a 2014, com uma clivagem regional norte/sul entre PT e PSDB. Por fim, a partir da hipótese que a mobilidade espacial e as redes de interação social modulariam a influência do contexto no comportamento eleitoral discutimos os resultados de uma análise de dados de surveys, aplicados na cidade de São Paulo em 2016. / This work seeks to present the main studies, theories, and research methods of the Electoral Geography subdiscipline, from the André Siegfrieds first studies of electoral mapping in France, the Frederick Turners in the United States, to the John Agnews place based electoral analysis perspective. After that, we discuss the studies about the context influence on electoral behaviour. We argue that, from the contextual point of view, individual electoral behaviour would be influenced on two levels: by its social networks of contacts and political communication, and by its surrounding geographical context, where everyday social interactions occur. In the empirical section of our work, we use the factorial analysis statistical technique to identify the periods of change and stability of spatial patterns during the presidential elections from 1989 to 2014. We find a stability period (normal vote) from 2006 to 2014, with a North-South regional cleavage between PT party and PSDB party. Finally, through the hypothesis that spatial mobility and networks of social interaction modulate contexts influence on electoral behaviour, we discuss the results of an analysis of data from a survey held in São Paulo city in 2016.

This dissertation presents a theoretical framework about which voters parties distribute to and with which policies. To develop this full framework of distributive policies, the dissertation proceeds in two stages. First, it analyses which voters parties have more incentives to target distributive policies. Second, it also develops the conditions under which political parties can focus exclusively on these voters or need to combine this strategy with appeals to a broader electorate. The first part of the argument analyses which voters parties have at the centre of their distributive strategies, or, in the words of Cox and McCubbins (1986) to whom parties will give an available extra dollar for distribution. The argument is that core voters provide more efficient conditions for distribution, contradicting Stokes’ (2005) claim that a dollar spent on core voters is a wasted dollar. The explanation is twofold. First, core supporters might not vote for another party, but they can get demobilised. Once we include the effects on turnout, core voters are more responsive. Their party identification makes them especially attentive and reactive to economic benefits provided by their party. Secondly, incumbents cannot individually select who receives a distributive policy, and not all voters are equally reachable with distributive policies. When a party provides a policy, it cannot control if some of those resources go to voters the party is not interested in. Core supporters are more homogenous groups with more definable traits, whereas swing voters are a residual category composed by heterogeneous voters with no shared interests. This makes it easier for incumbents to shape distributive benefits that target core voters more exclusively. These mechanisms define the general distribution hypothesis: parties will focus on core voters, by targeting their distributive strategies to them. The second part of the dissertation develops the conditions under which politicians stick to this distributive strategy or, instead, would provide more universalistic spending to a more undefined set of recipients. The conventional argument explaining this choice relies on the electoral system, arguing that proportional systems give more incentives to provide universalistic policies than majoritarian systems. This dissertation challenges this argument and provides two other contextual conditions that define when parties have a stronger interest in their core supporters or in a more general electorate. First, the geographic distribution of core supporters across districts is a crucial piece of information to know the best distributive strategy. When parties’ core supporters are geographically concentrated, they cannot simply rely on them, as the party will always fall short of districts to win the election. Therefore, parties will have greater incentives to expand their electorate by buying off other voters. This should reduce the predicted differences between electoral systems in the provision of universalistic programmes. Secondly, the policy positions of candidates are a result of strategic considerations that respond to other candidates’ positions. Thus, I argue that parties adapt their distributive strategies to the number of competing parties, independently of the electoral system. In a two-party scenario, parties need broader coalitions of electoral support. In equilibrium, any vote can change the electoral outcome. As more parties compete, the breadth of parties’ electorates is reduced and parties will find narrow distributive policies more profitable. In summary, the main contribution of this dissertation one is to provide a new framework to study distributive politics. This framework makes innovations both on the characterisation of swing and core electoral groups, and the rationale of parties’ distributive strategies, contributing to advance previous theoretical and empirical research.