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 take account of the policies advocated by these parties and the leaders who will eventually have to enact them.
This simple fact raises questions about the relative weight of these considerations, and especially the importance granted to the leaders. This issue has been largely neglected in the vast literature on voting behavior. The dominant traditions in the study of voting behavior focus on political parties and party identification; and on political issues and ideology, respectively.
This volume uses election surveys over the past 50 years to systematically asses the impact of political leaders on voting decisions in nine democracies (United States, Britain, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Australia). It analyzes issues such as the changes in political communication (particularly the rise of televised 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 accord to actual political leaders. Contrary to popular wisdom, Political Leaders and Democratic Elections shows how unimportant the characteristics of political leaders, parties, and indeed voters themselves actually are on voting patterns. The volume shows that voters tend to let themselves be guided by the leaders they like rather than being pushed away from those they dislike.

Kees Aarts is Professor of Political Science at the University of Twente and scientific director of its Institute for Innovation and Governance Studies.
Andre Blais holds the Canada Research Chair in Electoral Studies and is affiliated with the Department of Political Science, University of Montreal.
Hermann Schmitt is Professor of Political Science at the Universities of Manchester and Mannheim.