Voter mobilization of low income citizens in advanced industrial states: the effects of party identification and programmatic party positions

With electoral participation decreasing disproportionally among low-income citizens in advanced democracies, understanding factors that contribute to this decline becomes increasingly important. By distinguishing among various partisans, I reveal how programmatic positions of the dominant left party affect the mobilization of this cohort. A comparative empirical analysis reveals that strong partisans, weak partisans, and nonpartisans are more likely to vote when the left party is further left on a unidimensional policy scale. However, the effect of left party positions on turnout is strongest among weak partisans. When left parties become increasingly right in their position, the likelihood of voting among weak partisans becomes smaller than individuals with no party attachments. Thus, the effects of policy positions are influential enough to alter the positive impact of party identification on turnout. Furthermore, supplementary analyses indicate that the mechanism behind the voting behaviour of low-income voters is consistent with directional models of voting rather than proximity models.