Explaining Generational Differences in Issue Voting: The Role of Issue Salience During the Formative Years

Voting behavior across Western Europe has become increasingly structured by issue attitudes, particularly on cultural issues like immigration and the EU. While a growing literature covers realignment across Western Europe as a period and generational effect, remarkably little research has focused on why generational differences in realignment exist. This paper hypothesizes that issue salience during the formative years will leave a lasting mark on how people vote later in life. Using an ’age-period-cohort’ (APC) framework, we study issue-based voting behavior in 17 West European party systems on five issue dimensions (wealth redistribution, social lifestyle, environmental policies, immigration, and European integration) by combining data from the European Social Survey (ESS), Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES), and the Comparative Manifesto Project (CMP). We show that people attach more weight to issues salient during their formative years. The main takeaway is that electoral realignment is not only a period effect but also shapes the distinct socialization experiences of new generations.