Do experts and citizens perceive party competition similarly

Bibliographic Data

ID6314736
AuthorsDavid A Armstrong (0000-0002-9358-2489, Western University), Dave Armstrong (The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada), Laura B Stephenson (0000-0003-3526-8624, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada), Christopher Alcantara (0000-0001-6089-1114, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume31
Issue1
Pages15-28
Publication date2025-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueParty Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1354-0688 • E-ISSN: 1460-3683
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/13540688231207579
OpenAlexW4388016224
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited45

Researchers frequently rely on expert surveys to acquire information about political ideology and political parties, which they then use to explore a range of political phenomena such as proximity voting and satisfaction with democracy. Yet it is unclear whether experts and citizens place the parties similarly, which may have important implications for studies that rely on expert data. To what extent do citizens share expert views regarding political party placements? Using original data from Canada, we use multidimensional scaling techniques to examine and compare the responses of academic and journalist experts against a random sample of Canadians to a range of party placement questions. Our results suggest there is considerable variation between citizens and experts, and among specific subgroups of the general population. These findings have important implications for studies of party competition, voting behavior, and government responsiveness

Competition (biology · Democracy · Government (linguistics · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Population · Public relations · Sample (material · Sociology · Survey data collection · Voting · Voting behavior · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Psychology · Social Psychology

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