Political Leaders and Democratic Elections

Outcomes of legislative elections are typically reported in terms of party support: how many votes and seats were obtained by each party? But in fact voters are faced with three choices which must be folded into one. They must decide which party they prefer, but in so doing they must takeaccount of the policies advocated by these parties and the leaders who will eventually have to enact them.This simple fact raises question about the relative weight of these considerations, and espeically the importance granted to the leaders. This issue has been largely neglected in the vast literature on voting behaviour.The dominant traditions in the study of voting behaviour focus on politicalparties and party identification; and on political issues and ideology, respectively. This volume uses election surveys over the past 50 years to systematically assesses the impact of political leaders on voting decisions in nine democracies (Australia, Britain, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United States). It analyses issues such as the changes inpolitical communication (particularly the rise of televized politics), and the relative importance accorded to political leaders in different types of political systems. It demonstrates how electoral systems and other political institutions have a discernible effect on the importance voters accordto actual political leaders. Contrary to popular wisdom, Political Leaders and Democratic Elections shows how unimportant the characteristics of political leaders, parties, and indeed the voters themselves actually are on voting patterns. The volume shows that voters tend to let themselves beguided by the leaders they like rather than being pushed away from those they dislike.Comparative Politics is a series for students and teachers of political science that deals with contemporary issues in comparative government and politics. The General Editors are Max Kaase, Professor of Political Science, Vice President and Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences,International University Bremen; and Kenneth Newton, Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Southampton. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research.

1. Introduction, Andre Blais
2. Changing Patterns of Political Communication, Dieter Ohr
3. Party Leader Effects on the Vote, Soren Holmberg and Henrik Oscarsson
4. Political Leaders in Westminster Systems -, Ian McAllister
5. US Party Leaders: Exploring the Meaning of Candidate-Centered Politics -, Martin Wattenberg
6. Elections as Beauty Contests, John Curtice
7. Leader Effects and Party Characteristics, Bernt Aardal and Tanja Binder
8. Leader Effects and Leader Characteristics, Richard Nadeau and Neil Nevitte
9. Voter Characteristics and Leader Effects, Elisabeth Gidengil
10. Pull or Push? Positive and Negative Leader Evaluations and Vote Choice, Kees Aarts and Andre Blais
11. Leader Traits, Leader Image and Vote Choice -, Dieter Ohr and Henrik Oscarsson