Competing on competence: How the scope of campaign messages structure competence evaluations

Parties compete for votes through the issues they address. By emphasizing a diverse or a narrow set of issues, parties look to emphasize their policy competencies and mobilize electoral support from issue focused voters. I propose that voters’ perceptions of parties’ campaigns, however, vary according to the scope of parties’ messages and the government’s policy reputation. I test hypotheses from the theory using individual level data from the CSES and the CMP. The analysis demonstrates that the scope of parties’ message influences perceptions of party competence, although economic conditions and incumbency moderate the effect. Additional sensitivity analyses using alternate measures of issue diversity reveal additional evidence for the theory. The results hold important implications for theories of economic voting, issue competition and elections. Parties can attract support not only through the relative location of their preferences, but also through the issue scope of their campaigns.