Does political knowledge erode party attachments?: A review of the cognitive mobilization thesis

Albright, Jeremy J.

doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2009.01.001

Cited by 63 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Questions about its validity have, however, been posed by findings from other studies that show results in contradiction with the CM hypotheses (e.g. Albright, 2009, Arzheimer, 2006, Marthaler, 2008, Dassonneville et al, 2012and Van Deth, 2000 or offer alternative interpretations of changes in participatory trends (e.g. Berglund et al, 2005;Katz and Mair, 1995).…”

Section: Modernization and Changing Participatory Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…At the aggregate level, criticism of Dalton's model comes, for instance, from the empirical evidence that in some countries party attachment has not dropped much, and has even risen with society's modernization (Albright, 2009). But even when the aggregate development of participatory trends are consistent with what CM theory predicts, as in the evolution of the participatory trends in Italy, this does not necessarily prove that the main mechanism at work is the one assumed by it.…”

Section: Disentangling the Mechanism Of The CMmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…The main criticism, however, comes from studies that prove that, at the individual level, highly sophisticated citizens are more, not less, likely to be partisan. Loss of party identity is indeed encountered among groups with low levels of education and political interest (Dassonneville et al, 2012, Arzheimer, 2006, Marthaler, 2008, Ohr et al, 2009, Albright, 2009and Berglund et al, 2005. Although in the case of Germany this has been disproved by a later work by Dalton (2014), the issue remains controversial and casts doubts on CM as key causal mechanism for dealignment.…”

Section: Disentangling the Mechanism Of The CMmentioning

confidence: 93%

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The cognitive mobilization of organizational participation: Missing evidence from Italy (1972–2006)

Poletti

2015

Electoral Studies

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The Cognitive Mobilization thesis (CM) claims that the increasing educational levels in postindustrial societies bring about changes in the relationship between people's education and their participatory behaviour compared to the past. Younger, well-educated and more politically interested citizens are less likely to participate in political parties than poorly educated citizens, but more likely to join unconventional types of activist organisations.Using Italy as a test case, this study looks at whether the CM mechanism ought to be considered as a key factor shaping organizational participatory trends over time. Contrary to the CM thesis, we find that the highly educated continue to participate the most in political parties and that the gap between well and poorly educated in terms of their participation in activist associations does not become larger compared to the past.

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Section: Modernization and Changing Participatory Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Disentangling the Mechanism Of The CMmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Disentangling the Mechanism Of The CMmentioning

confidence: 93%

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The cognitive mobilization of organizational participation: Missing evidence from Italy (1972–2006)

Poletti

2015

Electoral Studies

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“…Indeed, a large number of studies conducted in the last two decades clearly demonstrate that political sophistication does not contribute to volatility, but to stability. Less educated and poorly informed citizens are often found to be more prone than sophisticated voters to switch parties between two successive elections and to alter their vote intention during a campaign (Albright, 2009;Boy & Dupoirier, 1990;Jaffre & Chiche, 1997;Marthaler, 2008;Muxel, 2009;Tiberj, 2015;Walgrave et al, 2010). These recent findings largely concord with the traditional floating voter hypothesis (Berelson et al, 1963;Lazarsfeld et al, 1968).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why Do Voters Change Their Mind during an Election Campaign? An Analysis of the Determinants of Campaign Volatility at the 2014 Belgian Federal Elections

Willocq¹

2016

OJPS

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This article examines the causes of stability and change in vote intentions during the 2014 Belgian federal election campaign. Drawing on data from the 2014 Parti Rep Belgian Voter Survey, our study aims to explain why a large number of voters have switched their vote intention in the weeks preceding the federal elections. To this end, we test a series of hypotheses drawn from different theories often referred to in the literature to account for campaign volatility. The results of our analysis reveal that voters can decide to change their vote preferences during the campaign due to strategic considerations related to their perceptions of the coalition potentials of parties. We also find that voters with a low level of political interest are more likely than highly interested voters to switch from one party to another in the weeks preceding the electoral contest. Unsurprisingly, a high degree of affection for the favourite party proves to be a barrier against campaign volatility. The higher the level of affect directed to the most preferred party, the more stable will be the vote intention. Moreover, results show that citizens with a low level of external political efficacy are more prone than others to switch parties in the last weeks of the campaign. By contrast, the ideological profile of the voter has no significant impact on campaign volatility.

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“…The first question is whether dealignment is mainly caused by generational replacement, or whether other elements should be taken into account as well? The second, and most fundamental question is to establish the likely consequences of dealignment: does it lead to the development of a new group of highly sophisticated apartisans 4 , or is there a risk of political alienation? Although we agree with many elements in the excellent article of Russell Dalton, in this rejoinder we briefly explain why we continue to disagree on these two crucial questions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Partisan Dealignment in Germany: A Rejoinder to Russell Dalton

Dassonneville¹,

Hooghe²,

Vanhoutte³

2014

German Politics

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The work of Russell Dalton has undoubtedly played a seminal role in the study of the relation between political sophistication and partisan dealignment. We furthermore acknowledge the presence of a consensus on the occurrence of lower levels of partisanship in Germany. Using panel data as well as pooled cross-sectional observations, however, it is clear that generational replacement is not the sole driving force of partisan dealignment, but that period effects should also be taken into account. While on an aggregate level rising levels of politica l sophistication have occurred simultaneously with decreasing partisanship, individual level analysis suggests clearly that the least sophisticated are most likely to feel alienated from the party system. We close with some very specific suggestion on how to address the democratic consequences of declining levels of partisanship.

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Does political knowledge erode party attachments?: A review of the cognitive mobilization thesis

Cited by 63 publications

References 13 publications

The cognitive mobilization of organizational participation: Missing evidence from Italy (1972–2006)

The cognitive mobilization of organizational participation: Missing evidence from Italy (1972–2006)

Why Do Voters Change Their Mind during an Election Campaign? An Analysis of the Determinants of Campaign Volatility at the 2014 Belgian Federal Elections

Partisan Dealignment in Germany: A Rejoinder to Russell Dalton

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