Which way from left to right? On the relation between voters’ issue preferences and left–right orientation in West European democracies

Published date01 September 2018
Date01 September 2018
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/0192512117692644
Subject MatterArticles
https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512117692644
International Political Science Review
2018, Vol. 39(4) 419 –435
© The Author(s) 2017
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0192512117692644
journals.sagepub.com/home/ips
Which way from left to right?
On the relation between voters’
issue preferences and left–right
orientation in West European
democracies
Romain Lachat
Sciences Po, France
Abstract
The left–right scale is the concept most often used to describe citizens’ and parties’ political positions. Its
prevalence suggests that political preferences are structured by a single ideological dimension. However,
much research shows that citizens’ issue preferences in Western Europe are structured by two dimensions:
economic; and social–cultural. How can a single dimension be sufficient to orient oneself in a two-dimensional
political space? This article suggests a solution to this paradox: among citizens, the left–right scale and
more concrete political issues are related in a non-linear way. Economic issue preferences should be more
strongly related to ideological differences among left-wing citizens (e.g. between extreme-left and centre-left
citizens) than among right-wing individuals. The reverse pattern should characterize the relation between
sociocultural issues and ideological self-placement. The analysis of 28 elections in five West European
countries offers strong support for the hypothesis of a non-linear relation.
Keywords
Left–right scale, political issues, political space, Western Europe
Introduction
The left–right scale is very salient in political (science) discourse. It is the most widely used way
to describe political positions (Benoit and Laver, 2006) and is frequently used by politicians,
experts, and citizens. The pervasiveness of the left–right scale supports the idea that citizens’ issue
preferences and parties’ political positions are structured along a single dimension. If citizens and
political elites can meaningfully describe preferences and positions using the left–right scale, the
main political conflicts and issues should align in a single dimension.
Corresponding author:
Romain Lachat, Sciences Po, Cevipof, 98 rue de l’Université, 75007 Paris, France.
Email: romain.lachat@sciencespo.fr
692644IPS0010.1177/0192512117692644International Political Science ReviewLachat
research-article2017
Article
420 International Political Science Review 39(4)
However, several authors have demonstrated that two dimensions (at least) are necessary to
explain the structure of issue positions in Western Europe – at the level of parties (Albright, 2010;
Hix, 1999; Warwick, 2002), voters (Kitschelt, 1995; Van der Brug and Van Spanje, 2009), or both
(Kitschelt, 1994; Kriesi et al., 2008). It is common in this literature to distinguish between an eco-
nomic and a sociocultural dimension (Hooghe et al., 2002; Kitschelt, 1994; Kriesi et al., 2006). The
economic dimension corresponds to the traditional class cleavage and contrasts pro-state and pro-
market views. The sociocultural dimension in West European countries in the late 1990s and early
2000s has been shown to combine mainly issues of cultural liberalism and attitudes towards immi-
gration (Dalton, 2010; Kriesi et al., 2008; Van der Brug and Van Spanje, 2009).
Determining that issue positions are structured by two largely independent dimensions leads to
a puzzling situation. One may wonder how citizens can orient themselves in a two-dimensional
political world by referring to a single left–right dimension. If economic and sociocultural issues
are, to a large extent, independent from one another, the left–right scale should not be sufficient to
meaningfully summarize citizens’ issue positions. On the other hand, if the left–right scale really
captures the main conflicts structuring citizens’ issue preferences, then we should not find that
these attitudes are indeed structured by two independent dimensions, as much research shows.
Can these contradictory views about the structure of citizens’ political preferences be recon-
ciled? This article suggests that this is indeed possible. The argument rests on a different concep-
tion of how citizens’ left–right positions relate to their attitudes towards more concrete economic
and sociocultural issues. The traditional interpretation of the left–right scale is that it represents a
linear combination of various political issues (Huber, 1989; Knutsen, 1995). The assumption of
linear relations means that the strength of the relation between left–right ideology and preferences
on a given issue is the same at all positions along the left–right scale. Consider, for instance, atti-
tudes towards welfare state expansion, a typical example of an economic issue. If the relation is
linear, the difference in welfare state preferences between far-left and centre-left citizens will be of
the same magnitude as the difference between centre-right and far-right citizens. Instead, this arti-
cle suggests that, in many West European democracies, the relations between citizens’ issues pref-
erences and left–right ideology should be nonlinear. The strength of the association between
ideology and specific issues should vary depending on the exact location on the left–right scale.
This general hypothesis is derived from two arguments. First, much literature has shown that
citizens’ interpretation of the left–right scale is influenced by the conflicts they observe in their
political system (Huber, 1989; Inglehart and Klingemann, 1976; Knutsen, 1998). Left and right are
abstract concepts that citizens interpret in relation to the political actors that claim or are ascribed
these ideological positions and to the political issues that divide them. Second, research on political
parties and electoral competition in Western Europe shows that the main lines of conflicts that
structure party positions may differ between the left and the right (Cochrane, 2013; Grunberg and
Schweisguth, 1997; Kriesi et al., 2006). Left-wing parties are generally supportive of ‘libertarian’
positions on the sociocultural dimensions. On the economic axis, however, their positions differ
more strongly, with radical left parties being much more extreme in their rejection of capitalism
and their defence of economic equality (March and Rommerskirchen, 2015). The positions of
right-wing parties, on the other hand, differ more strongly from one another on the sociocultural
dimension than on the economic one. Most right-wing parties favour economic liberalism rather
than state intervention (although nationalist parties may also advocate for protectionist measures in
order to shelter the domestic market from international economic competition). On the sociocul-
tural dimension, by contrast, there is a large divide between mainstream and radical right parties,
with the latter standing out by their nationalist and xenophobic positions (Mudde, 1996).
These findings lead to the hypothesis of nonlinear relations between citizens’ left–right posi-
tions and their issue preferences. In countries that present such a configuration of party positions,

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT