Policy Voting in Britain

The Colored Immigration Issue in the 1964, 1966, and 1970 General Elections

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3376571
AutoresDonley T Studlar (Centre College, autor correspondente)
Ano1978
Volume72
Fascículo1
Páginas46-64
Data de publicação1978-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAmerican Political Science Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0003-0554 • E-ISSN: 1537-5943
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/1953598
OpenAlexW2330412833
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas25
Referências citadas54

Several studies in recent years have examined the question of mass issue voting in the United States and have found that people vote more frequently on the basis of policy questions than has heretofore been thought. It would seem to be useful for the study of comparative politics to explore mass policy voting in other democratic countries. The colored immigration issue in Britain is a particularly appropriate one to examine because of the controversy surrounding its impact on voting behavior, especially in the 1970 election. Are the policy preferences of the electorate related to their voting behavior? This question is examined longitudinally through a secondary analysis of the Butler-Stokes election surveys of 1964,1966, and 1970 for England.After utilizing controls for a large number of variables, one finds that theimmigration issue had no significant impact on electoral behavior in 1964 and 1966. In the 1970 election, however, the Conservatives gained an estimated increment of 6.7 percent in votes because many people perceived them to be the party more likely to keep immigrants out and voted in accordance with that perception. This impact can be attributed to Enoch Powell's associating the Conservative party with restrictive immigration control in the public mind

Democracy · Demographic economics · Economics · General election · Group voting ticket · Immigration · Lower house · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Split-ticket voting · Straight-ticket voting · Voting · Voting behavior · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Policy Transfer and Learning · Social Policy and Reform Studies