Voter coordination around viable parties varies significantly across electoral constituencies. This study reveals that constituency socio-demographic diversity plays a crucial role, often inhibiting collective decision-making despite institutional and elite-level factors being considered by prior research.
> Research shows voter co-ordination failures are not solely explained by institutions or elites. Instead, characteristics of the constituencies themselves matter greatly.
* Diversity inhibits collective coordination in some political contexts.
* District magnitude (size) interacts with diversity to influence party system outcomes.
This article synthesizes organizational psychology theories on collective decision-making with institutional incentive frameworks. It contends that while diversity creates challenges, the specific electoral context determines whether coordination succeeds or fails.
> Tested using a cross-national empirical investigation analyzing voter behavior in twelve countries across lower house elections.
The findings demonstrate a direct link between constituency diversity and party system size, providing new insights into how demographic composition affects electoral outcomes.
| Constituency Diversity, District Magnitude, and Voter Coordination was authored by Joshua Potter. It was published by Cambridge in BJPS in 2018. |
