Linking voters, parties, and candidate communication : strategic ambiguity in German elections

Nyhuis, Dominic

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URL:	https://madoc.bib.uni-mannheim.de/39454
URN:	urn:nbn:de:bsz:180-madoc-394545
Document Type:	Doctoral dissertation
Year of publication:	2014
Place of publication:	Mannheim
University:	Universität Mannheim
Evaluator:	Gschwend, Thomas
Date of oral examination:	1 August 2014
Publication language:	English
Institution:	School of Social Sciences > Politische Wissenschaft, Quantitative Sozialwissenschaftliche Methoden (Gschwend 2007-) Außerfakultäre Einrichtungen > Graduate School of Economic and Social Sciences- CDSS (Social Sciences)
Subject:	320 Political science
Subject headings (SWD):	Bundestagswahl , Wahlsystem , Deutschland / Bundestag , Abgeordneter , Politische Kommunikation
Keywords (English):	Germany , Federal election , Electoral system , Candidates , Political communication
Abstract:	The study investigates the strategic communication of candidates during the German federal election of 2013. Based on the competing principals account of political behavior, the work posits that the position-taking of nominal candidates is subject to cross-pressures from party headquarters and policy preferences in the district. Relying on evidence from a candidate-level vote advice application, the local policy preferences are recovered from user inputs. Substantively, the study finds that even candidates in the mixed electoral system of Germany are subject to the cross-pressures from competing principals — they are most likely to take an ambiguous policy position if the preferences of party headquarters and the electoral district diverge.