Party Identification, the Policy Space and Business Donations to Political Parties

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6344802
AutoresIain Mcmenamin (0000-0002-1704-390X, Dublin City University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2020
Volumen68
Número2
Páginas293-310
Fecha de publicación2020-05-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPolitical Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0032-3217 • E-ISSN: 1467-9248
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0032321719841243
OpenAlexW2937781057
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas9
Referencias citadas35

Political finance scholars have paid little attention to the partisan preferences of business donors. This was because business donors were overwhelmingly concerned with the left-right dimension and enjoyed stable relationships with centre-right parties. These parties are increasingly tempted by economic nationalism. This new ideological flux provides an opportunity to measure the extent to which donors are party identifiers or react to changes in the policy space. Dramatic shifts in party policy on both the left-right and globalisation dimensions and a relatively transparent political finance regime make the United Kingdom a particularly apposite case to study this question. I analyse 19,000 donations to the Conservative Party and show that business donors reacted strongly to recent shifts on both the left-right and globalisation dimensions. Thus, centre-right parties may not be able to rely on party identification and their left-right position to maintain business funding. Economic nationalism is likely to cost centre-right parties money

Dimension (graph theory · Economics · Globalization · Ideology · Left and right · Market economy · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Position (finance · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Finance · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Social Policy and Reform Studies