Text-as-data methods reveal mixed success in party policy diffusion across Western democracies. This study examines nineteen countries from 1960-2016, finding that successful parties resist changing their manifestos when borrowing occurs. However, regional cultural reference groups significantly influence adoption patterns within European Parliament factions regardless of election outcomes.
➡️ Key Findings:
• Success breeds resistance to change
• Regional alignment trumps national context in EP settings
• Anchoring effects persist despite electoral success/loss
💡 Methodology Highlights:
• Manifesto similarity analysis (1960-2016)
• Machine translation for text comparison
• Quantitative approach tracking policy dyads across time
This work illuminates the complex conditions shaping political adaptation and borrowing.
| The Ties that Bind: Text Similarities and the Conditional Diffusion of Party Policies was authored by Nils Düpont and Martin Rachuj. It was published by Cambridge in BJPS in 2022. |
