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Expressive voting and two-dimensional political competition: an application to law and order policy by New Labour in the UK

Author

Listed:
  • Stephen Drinkwater

    (University of Roehampton
    Wales Institute of Social and Economic, Research, Data and Methods (WISERD))

  • Colin Jennings

    (King’s College London)

Abstract

There has been much debate regarding the electoral strategy adopted by New Labour in the lead-up to and then during their time in government. This paper addresses the issue from the perspective of left/right and liberal/authoritarian considerations by examining data on individual attitudes from the British Social Attitudes survey between 1986 and 2009. The analysis indicates that New Labour’s move towards the right on economic and public policy was the main driver towards attracting new centrist voters and could thus be labelled ‘broadly’ populist. The move towards a tougher stance on law and order was more ‘narrowly’ populist in that it was used more to minimise the reduction in support from Labour’s traditional base on the left than to attract new votes. The evidence presented provides support for an expressive theory of voting in that law and order policy was arguably used to counter alienation amongst traditional, left-wing Labour supporters.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen Drinkwater & Colin Jennings, 2017. "Expressive voting and two-dimensional political competition: an application to law and order policy by New Labour in the UK," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 79-96, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:copoec:v:28:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s10602-016-9226-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10602-016-9226-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    New Labour; Electoral strategy; Expressive voting; Issue dimensions; Law and order;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • K0 - Law and Economics - - General

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