Summary:

In a typical election, citizens encounter a bewildering menu of parties vying for their vote. How do citizens cope with this abundance of choice and how does the coping mechanism affect the functioning of electoral democracy? These are the central questions of this book project. Building on consideration set models of choice, the book first presents a new micro-level theory of electoral democracy. It validates this with experimental and survey data. Next, it looks at the implication of the theory for party behavior and competition. Finally, it looks at system-level factors that affect choice behavior and answers the normative question of whether abundant choice can be too much of a good thing.

Contributors:

• Marco Steenbergen

Sources of Funding:

• Swiss National Science Foundation

Collaborating Institutions:

• University of Zurich

Collaborating Countries:

• Switzerland

Contacts:

Internal:

Marco Steenbergen

Transversal Research Priorities:

• Demokratie und Demokratisierung

Keywords:

• Elections
• political psychology
• rationality