Does Electoral Reform alter Voter Perceptions of Parties' Ideological Positions? A Comparative Study

In the tradition of Duverger and Downs, many studies on electoral reform focus on its consequences on party system format, including parties' incentives to adopt centripetal or centrifugal strategies. Another strand of literature has explored its effect on individual attitudes and behaviour, such as political support and voting turnout. By contrast, the implications of electoral reform on party movements have rarely been discussed from the perspective of individual voters. For example, do citizens come to see a wider ideological spectrum following a change from a plurality to a more proportional electoral system, as some parties shift toward (or new parties emerge on) the extreme right or left? Furthermore, in so far as parties make policy adjustments to better compete under the new rules of the game, do perceptions of parties' ideological profiles differ between older cohorts who are accustomed to party positions under the previous electoral system and younger voters who are socialized after the introduction of the new rules? Analysing surveys from three countries that underwent an overhaul of their electoral system - Italy, Japan and New Zealand - the present study addresses these questions by examining changes (or the lack thereof) in voter perceptions over time and across generations.