Policy-based voting, perceptions of issue space, and the 2000 Mexican elections

In: Electoral Studies, Volume 27, Issue 4, p. 649-660

Abstract

I argue, and test using data from the 2000 Mexican elections, the following assertions: perceptions of issue space condition the weights voters assign to policy stances and these perceptions in turn are affected by both individual and contextual variables. By perceptions of issue space I mean the choice candidates appear to offer on a given issue. The principal data I use come from the Mexico 2000 Panel Study; hypotheses are tested using multinomial logit and OLS analyses. The first set of results supports the thesis that perceptions of issue space condition the tendency for individuals to select leaders on the basis of select policy stances. The second set demonstrates that individual characteristics, structural constraints, and candidates' rhetorical strategies (the latter mediated by partisan leanings) all affect perceptions of issue space. Combined, these findings have important implications for understanding voting behavior in young and old democracies alike. [Copyright 2008 Elsevier Ltd.]