How Polarisation Moderates Proximity Voting and Issue Ownership Voting

This paper analyses the impact of party system polarization on issue voting. Most previous research finds a positive relationship between polarization and proximity voting. With regard to party competence evaluations (issue ownership voting) the results are more ambiguous. Some scholars observe a weakening of issue ownership voting in polarized party systems. Others claim that issue ownership voting, like proximity voting, is strengthened through polarization. The study uses data from the 2009 European Parliament elections (PIREDU) and compares voting behavior in 27 countries. I estimate a multilevel model and make use of non-exclusive party preferences (voting probabilities). The expectations are that issue ownership voting and proximity voting are both reinforced by polarization. As parties are more distinct from each other, voters can more easily distinguish them based on position and problem solving competence. In turn, both factors become important decision criteria.