Experimental studies indicate that voters’ tendency to defect to a small or large party depend on individual characteristics. Whereas many have found an impact of low party identification, the impact of political sophistication (political interest, knowledge and education) is mixed. This paper takes a closer look at the relationship between sophistication, party system and strategic vote choice, using extensive time series data from the Swedish proportional representation (PR) context. Strategic voting is defined as voting for another party than one’s preference with some intention to affect outcomes. The hypothesis is that the incentives not to waste one’s vote are particularly strong among voters with high political sophistication, which is supported by the data. Also under PR rules, the tendency to defect from party preference is highest among voters who support small parties.
