A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats: Party Family Strength Abroad and Domestic Support

• In Event: Connections between Elections at Multiple Levels

Abstract

How does the electoral performance of the party family affect the electoral fate of its member parties in subsequent elections? In this paper, I examine how the success of the party family outside of one’s domestic contexts shapes the electoral fortune of domestic parties that belong to that party family. Specifically, I argue that party families that perform well abroad will create a sense of strength and success for the party family, which gives member parties momentum as they head into their own elections. Using cross-national survey data from the European Elections Study, I find support for my argument. The stronger the party family performs abroad, the more open voters become to consider voting for the party in the future. These results have important implications for our understandings of voter behavior in an increasingly inter-connected political world.

Author

• Jeffrey Nonnemacher, University of Colorado Boulder