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Course, academic year 2023/2024
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Election behaviour - ASGV00997
Title: Volební chování
Guaranteed by: Department of Sociology (21-KSOC)
Faculty: Faculty of Arts
Actual: from 2020
Semester: summer
Points: 0
E-Credits: 4
Examination process: summer s.:
Hours per week, examination: summer s.:2/0, Ex [HT]
Capacity: 20 / unknown (unknown)
Min. number of students: unlimited
4EU+: no
Virtual mobility / capacity: no
Key competences:  
State of the course: taught
Language: Czech
Teaching methods: full-time
Teaching methods: full-time
Level:  
Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan
enabled for web enrollment
Guarantor: doc. PhDr. Lukáš Linek, Ph.D.
Teacher(s): doc. PhDr. Lukáš Linek, Ph.D.
Annotation -
Last update: doc. PhDr. Lukáš Linek, Ph.D. (28.01.2021)
The course focuses on issues of elections and electoral behavior. After a brief introduction of basic research questions, the research design and types of data used, basic theories of voter turnout and party choice will be presented. The course will focus on explanations that use the individual characteristics of voters, as well as on contextual explanations and the interaction of both levels. The course will also systematically focus on the research design and why how the theoretical claims are justified The course will be taught in the form of lectures and seminars and requires active involvement of students.
Aim of the course -
Last update: doc. PhDr. Lukáš Linek, Ph.D. (28.01.2021)

The aim of the course is to present basic explanations of voter turnout and party choice.

Course completion requirements -
Last update: doc. PhDr. Lukáš Linek, Ph.D. (07.02.2024)

To pass the course, the student has to (1) actively participate during the seminars; (2) submit 2 written position papers discussing the compulsory literature; (3) submit a final paper; (4) presentation.

Syllabus -
Last update: doc. PhDr. Lukáš Linek, Ph.D. (07.02.2024)

Course schedule

 

1. Electoral behavior as a form of political participation (20th February 2024)

Electoral behavior as a form of political participation, political participation research and its normative starting points (link to theories of democracy), definition and typology of political participation, changes in the repertoire of political participation after the Second World War.

Recommended:

Teorell, Jan. 2006. „Political Participation and Three Theories of Democracy: A Research Inventory and Agenda.” European Journal of Political Research 45(5): 787–810.

Dalton, Russell, Hans-Dieter Klingemann. 2007. „Citizens and Political Behavior.“ In Russell Dalton, Hans-Dieter Klingemann (eds.): The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior. Oxford: Oxford University Press, str. 3–26.

Vráblíková, Kateřina. 2008. „Politická participace - teorie a koncepty.“ Politologický časopis 15(4): 366–388.

 

2. Basic research questions. Types of data. Basic methods of electoral behavior analysis. Historical survey of electoral behavior research (27th February 2024)

Basic research questions (interpretation of elections and electoral behavior, mandate theory). Interaction of micro and macro factors. Assumptions of electoral behavior models (nationalization of party systems and homogeneity of voters). Aggregated and individual-level data. Experimental and observational design. Breakthrough monographs and studies. Interaction of theory, technology, data and statistical models.

Required:

van der Eijk, Cees, Mark Franklin. 2009. Elections and Voters. Houndsmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave, Macmillan (chapter 1).

 

 

5th March 2024 – reading week, no lecture and seminar

 

 

3. Party choice I. – Structural theories (12th March 2024)

Structural models (cleavage voting; class voting).

Required:

Evans, Geoffrey. 2017. „Social Class and Voting“. In: Arzheimer Kai et al.: Sage Handbook of Electoral Behavior, pp. 177–198.

Recommended:

Evans, Jocelyn A. J. 2004. Voters and Voting. An Introduction. London: Sage (kapitola 2: Social Structural Theories of Voting).

Smith, Michael J., Petr Matějů. 2011. „Restratifikace české politiky. Vývoj třídně podmíněného volebního chování v České republice v letech 1992–2010.“ Sociologický časopis 47(1): 33–59.

 

4. Party choice II. – Structural theories (19th March 2024)

Socio-psychological (Michigan) model.

Required:

Bowler, Shaun. 2017. „Party Identification“. In: Fisher Justin et al.: Routledge Handbook of Elections, Voting Behavior and Public Opinion, pp. 146–157.

 

 

5. Party choice III. – Issue voting. Personalization of voter behavior (26th March 2024)

Positional and valence issues. Political space. Proximity and directional voting. Theory of valence politics. Personalization of voter behavior.

Required:

Evans, Jocelyn A. J. 2004. Voters and Voting. An Introduction. London: Sage (kapitola 5: Issues and Space: Proximity and Directional Theories of Voting).

Recommended:

Stokes, Donald. 1963. „Spatial Models of Party Competition.“ American Political Science Review 57(2): 368–377.

 

 

6. Party choice IV. – Economic voting, personalization (2nd April 2023)

Sociotropic vs. egocentric; prospective vs. retrospective voting.

Required:

Garzia, Diego. 2017. „Voter Evaluation of Candidates and Party Leaders“. In: Arzheimer Kai et al.: Sage Handbook of Electoral Behavior, pp. 633–653.

Recommended:

Denver, David. 2007. Elections and Voters in Britain. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (kapitola 3: Party Choice in the Era of Alignment, 1950–70, a kapitola 4: Dealignment and its Consequences).

Lewis-Beck, Michael S., Mary Stegmaier. 2000. „Economic Determinants of Electoral Outcomes.“ Annual Review of Political Science 3: 183–219.

 

 

7. Electoral participation I. – aggregate-level models (9th April 2024)

Turnout trends. Macro-level explanations of turnout. Effect of institutions.

Required:

Blais, André. 2006. „What Affects Voter Turnout?” Annual Review of Political Science 9: 111–125.

Recommended:

Geys, Benny. 2006. „Explaining Voter Turnout: A Review of Aggregate-level Research.“ Electoral Studies 25(4): 637–663.

Cancela, Joao, Benny Geys. 2016. „Explaining Voter Turnout: A Meta-Analysis of National and Subnational Elections.“ Electoral Studies 42(4): 264–275.

Blais, André, Agniezka Dobrzynska. 1998. „Turnout in Electoral Democracies.“ European Journal of Political Research. 33(2): 239–261.

 

 

8. Electoral participation II. – individual-level models (16th April 2024)

Individual-level explanations of electoral participation.

Required:

Plutzer, Eric. 2017. „Demographics and the Social Bases of Voter Turnout“. In: Fisher Justin et al.: Routledge Handbook of Elections, Voting Behavior and Public Opinion, pp. 69–82.

Recommended:

Kasara, Kimuli, Pavithra Suryanarayan. 2015. “When Do the Rich Vote Less Than the Poor and Why? Explaining Turnout Inequality across the World.” American Journal of Political Science 59(3): 613–627.

Linek, Lukáš. 2013. Kam se ztratili voliči? Vysvětlení vývoje volební účasti v České republice v letech 1990–2010. Brno: CDK. (kapitola 2: Teorie volební účasti).

 

 

9. Electoral participation III. – individual-level models (23rd April 2024)

Individual-level explanations of electoral participation.

Required:

Wass, Hanna, André Blais. 2017. „Turnout“. In: Arzheimer Kai et al.: Sage Handbook of Electoral Behavior, pp. 459–487.

Recommended:

Blais, André. 2000. To Vote or Note To Vote? The Merits and Limits of Rational Choice Theory. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press (kapitola 4: What is the Cost of Voting? a kapitola 5: Is it a Duty to Vote?)

 

 

10. Turnout decline and its consequences (30th April 2024)

Turnout decline and its explanations. Consequences of turnout decline for political representation and election results. Low turnout problem.

Required:

Blais, André, Daniel Rubenson. 2013. „The Source of Turnout Decline: New Values or New Contexts?“ Comparative Political Studies 46(1): 95–117.

Recommended:

Heath, Oliver. 2007. „Explaining Turnout Decline in Britain, 1964–2005: Party Identification and the Political Context.“ Political Behavior 29(4): 493–516.

Lijphart, Arendt. 1997. „Unequal Participation: Democracy’s Unresolved Dilemma.“ American Political Science Review 91(1): 1–14.

 

 

11. Theory of electoral change. Electoral behavior in different types of elections (7th May 2024).

Electoral volatility. Theory of electoral change. Second-order national elections theory. Presidential elections in parliamentary systems.

Required:

Schmitt, Hermann, Eftechia Teperoglu. 2017. „The Study of Less Important Elections“. In: Arzheimer Kai et al.: Sage Handbook of Electoral Behavior, pp. 56–79.

Recommended:

Linek, Lukáš. 2014. „Čistá a celková volební volatilita v Česku v letech 1990-2013: stejný koncept, odlišná měření a podobné závěry?.“ Acta Politologica 6(1): 24–38.

 

 

12. Heterogeneity of electoral behavior. Electoral predictions (14th May 2024).

Heterogeneity of electoral behavior. Prediction models: poll of the polls, wisdom of crowds, performance models.

Required:

Bartle, John. 2005. “Homogeneous Models and Heterogeneous Voters.” Political Studies 53(4): 653–675.

Recommended:

Lachat, Romain. 2007. A Heterogeneous Electorate: Political Sophistication, Predisposition Strength, and the Voting Decision Process. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag.

 

Entry requirements -
Last update: doc. PhDr. Lukáš Linek, Ph.D. (28.01.2021)

Ability to read scientific text in English. Basic knowledge of methods of social science research and sociological theory is welcomed.

Registration requirements - Czech
Last update: doc. PhDr. Lukáš Linek, Ph.D. (30.01.2023)

Kurz je určen pro studenty minimálně 3. ročníku Bc studia a pro studenty Mgr studia.

 
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