The spatial model (Downs 1957) claims that voters support the candidate whose positions are closest to theirs. The valence model (Stokes 1992) instead argues that voters do not have strong positions on issues, and instead vote for the candidate they believe is the most competent. These two models are contradictory.
The paper resolves the tension between these models. It is hypothesized that the spatial and valence models each accurately describe the behavior of a subset of the electorate. The first describes the behaviour of individuals who are political sophisticates, while the second describes the behaviour of voters who are not.
This finding has important implications for studies of voting behavior. It shows that models of voting cannot be expected to apply equally to all voters. On the contrary, when designing a model, researchers should be careful to state to which subset of the population the model should be applied.
