Explaining Time of Vote Decision: The Socio-Structural, Attitudinal, and Contextual Determinants of Late Deciding
| DOI | 10.1177/1478929917748484 |
| Author | Simon Willocq |
| Published date | 01 February 2019 |
| Date | 01 February 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929917748484
Political Studies Review
2019, Vol. 17(1) 53 –64
© The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1478929917748484
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Explaining Time of Vote
Decision: The Socio-Structural,
Attitudinal, and Contextual
Determinants of Late Deciding
Simon Willocq
Abstract
In the last decades, Western democracies have witnessed an increase in the proportion of
voters who make their electoral choice late in the campaign. Consequently, scholars have paid
considerable attention to this phenomenon and attempted to identify the factors which influence
time of vote decision. This article reviews the literature on the determinants of decision timing.
Several studies suggest that women and young citizens are more likely to be late deciders.
Besides, party identification has been shown to hasten the electoral decision, whereas attitudinal
ambivalence and network cross-pressures have been found to delay the crystallisation of vote
intentions. Moreover, previous work reveals that strategic voters decide later than do their
sincere counterparts. Special attention is also devoted to the debate on whether the phenomenon
of late deciding can be seen as the consequence of a lack of political sophistication or as the
product of a high level of political engagement.
Keywords
time of vote decision, ambivalence, political sophistication, political disaffection, strategic
considerations
Accepted: 16 October 2017
Voter’s indecision has undoubtedly become one of the most salient topics in the media
coverage of election campaigns, but also one of the main fields of interest for students of
voting behaviour. In many established democracies, scholars have observed a long-term
trend for citizens to delay their voting choice until a later stage of the campaign. Previous
work demonstrates that in Western countries, there has been a gradual increase in the
percentage of voters who postpone their vote decision until the campaign is under way
(Box- Steffensmeier et al., 2015; Cautrès and Jadot, 2007; Dalton et al., 2000; Irwin and
Centre d’étude de la vie politique, Université libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium
Corresponding author:
Simon Willocq, Centre d’étude de la vie politique, Université libre de Bruxelles, 44, Avenue Jeanne,
1050 Bruxelles, Belgium.
Email: swillocq@ulb.ac.be
748484PSW0010.1177/1478929917748484Political Studies ReviewWillocq
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