New Patterns of Voting Behavior, Political Polarization, and Populism in Local Politics

Abstract

The panel examines how the recent developments: populist turn, increasing political polarization, accompanying shifts in the national political landscape, emergence of the new parties and new party strategies, and institutional reforms, shape the health of local democracy. The panel welcomes both theoretical and empirical studies, focusing on political representation and citizen-party linkages in multi-level democracies, local parties, subnational electoral systems, and voting behavior in subnational elections. Bringing together comparative evidence from various countries and electoral arenas, the papers will analyze how electoral system design structures voter incentives and party competition, highlighting unintended consequences in local contexts. The panel also focuses on shifting dynamics of incumbency, nationalization of local party systems, and party competition at the local level, as many studies have documented declining advantages for established parties, growing volatility, the rise of local independent lists, or more extreme parties. These developments raise questions about whether local elections increasingly serve as arenas for protest and "barometric punishment" of the government, but also ideological differentiation, or experimentation with new political actors. The panel also welcomes contributions mapping local campaigns and local parties' manifestos, tracing how local party organizations position themselves in subnational politics.

Title	Details
Changing Attitudes on Local Online-Participation by Councillors, Political Parties and Citizen?	View Paper Details
The Particularities of Voting Behaviour in the Bavarian Landtag Electoral System	View Paper Details
Proportionality and Integration in County-Level Elections	View Paper Details
When Established Center Parties in Power Loose at Local Elections – Incumbency Bonuses in Decline, Polarization on the Rise, or Increasing Parliamentary Swings?	View Paper Details
Letting Citizens In? Party Positions on Participatory Democracy at the Local Level	View Paper Details