Ideology, Nationalism, and Identity in Basque Regional Elections

Stephen Ansolabehere () and M. Socorro Puy
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Stephen Ansolabehere: Government Department, Harvard University

No 2015-02, Working Papers from Universidad de Málaga, Department of Economic Theory, Málaga Economic Theory Research Center

Abstract: Parliamentary elections to the Basque Autonomous Community have a stable multi-party system that regularly produces long-lived minority and coalition governments. More amazing still, this stable party system arises in the context of a complex social and political setting in which the society cleaves along at least two lines -- left-right ideology and nationalism – and in which people have strong identities tied to the Basque language and culture. This paper analyzes voting behavior in parliamentary elections in this region to understand how the left-right ideology, nationalism, and identity sustain this party system. We extend the conventional spatial voting model to incorporate identity issues. Our empirical analysis shows that left-right ideology, nationalism (or regional autonomy) and identity strongly predict vote choice. Interestingly, the analysis suggests that identity politics both polarizes voting and sustains a stable multi-party system.

Keywords: Basque-Elections; Multi-Party Elections; Coalition Governments; Positional Issues; Valence Issues; Identity groups (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2015-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm and nep-pol
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mal:wpaper:2015-2

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