The Role of Ballot Ranking: Preferential Voting in a Nationwide
Constituency in Slovakia

J 2016

The Role of Ballot Ranking: Preferential Voting in a Nationwide Constituency in Slovakia

SPÁČ, Peter

Basic information

Original name

The Role of Ballot Ranking: Preferential Voting in a Nationwide Constituency in Slovakia

Authors

SPÁČ, Peter (703 Slovakia, guarantor, belonging to the institution)

Edition

East European Politics & Societies, Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications Inc. 2016, 0888-3254

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Článek v odborném periodiku

Field of Study

50601 Political science

Country of publisher

United States of America

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Impact factor

Impact factor: 0.400

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14230/16:00088034

Organization unit

Faculty of Social Studies

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0888325416631802

UT WoS

000381037200008

Keywords in English

Preferential voting; ballot order effect; candidates; elections; list size

Abstract

V originále

This article deals with ballot order effect in preferential voting in general elections in Slovakia. Previous research in this field has primarily focused on countries whose elections are based either on single-member districts or on lists with fewer candidates. This article aims to analyze a case of a different nature. Slovakia uses a proportional representation list system with a single nationwide constituency where all 150 members of parliament are elected. Hence, most of the political parties create lists with a high number of candidates, which according to theory should enhance the influence of ballot ranking. Using data from Slovak general elections between 2006 and 2012 with a sample of 7,587 candidates, this study provides strong evidence of the impact of ballot order on the results of preferential voting. The analysis in this article shows the existence of both the primacy and recency effects, that is, a positive bias of voters towards candidates listed at both top and bottom positions on a list. What is more, the multilevel models used in this article demonstrate that support for top-ranked candidates significantly increases as the size of the list increases. For the bottom-listed candidates, this trend is rather the opposite. These findings represent a valuable contribution to the debate in this area as they provide insight into the role of ballot order in electoral systems that use lists composed of numerous candidates.

Links

GA15-22754S, research and development project

Name: Kvalita demokracie: Česká republika v komparativní perspektivě

Investor: Czech Science Foundation

Citovat

SPÁČ, Peter. The Role of Ballot Ranking: Preferential Voting in a Nationwide Constituency in Slovakia. East European Politics & Societies. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications Inc., 2016, vol. 30, No 3, p. 644-663. ISSN 0888-3254. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0888325416631802.

@article{1349946,
   author = {Spáč, Peter},
   article_location = {Thousand Oaks},
   article_number = {3},
   doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0888325416631802},
   keywords = {Preferential voting; ballot order effect; candidates; elections; list size},
   language = {eng},
   issn = {0888-3254},
   journal = {East European Politics & Societies},
   title = {The Role of Ballot Ranking: Preferential Voting in a Nationwide Constituency in Slovakia},
   volume = {30},
   year = {2016}
}

TY  - JOUR
ID  - 1349946
AU  - Spáč, Peter
PY  - 2016
TI  - The Role of Ballot Ranking: Preferential Voting in a Nationwide Constituency in Slovakia
JF  - East European Politics & Societies
VL  - 30
IS  - 3
SP  - 644-663
EP  - 644-663
PB  - Sage Publications Inc.
SN  - 08883254
KW  - Preferential voting
KW  - ballot order effect
KW  - candidates
KW  - elections
KW  - list size
N2  - This article deals with ballot order effect in preferential voting in general elections in Slovakia. Previous research in this field has primarily focused on countries whose elections are based either on single-member districts or on lists with fewer candidates. This article aims to analyze a case of a different nature. Slovakia uses a proportional representation list system with a single nationwide constituency where all 150 members of parliament are elected. Hence, most of the political parties create lists with a high number of candidates, which according to theory should enhance the influence of ballot ranking. Using data from Slovak general elections between 2006 and 2012 with a sample of 7,587 candidates, this study provides strong evidence of the impact of ballot order on the results of preferential voting. The analysis in this article shows the existence of both the primacy and recency effects, that is, a positive bias of voters towards candidates listed at both top and bottom positions on a list. What is more, the multilevel models used in this article demonstrate that support for top-ranked candidates significantly increases as the size of the list increases. For the bottom-listed candidates, this trend is rather the opposite. These findings represent a valuable contribution to the debate in this area as they provide insight into the role of ballot order in electoral systems that use lists composed of numerous candidates.
ER  -

SPÁČ, Peter. The Role of Ballot Ranking: Preferential Voting in a Nationwide Constituency in Slovakia. \textit{East European Politics \&{} Societies}. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications Inc., 2016, vol.~30, No~3, p.~644-663. ISSN~0888-3254. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0888325416631802.

Detailed Information on Publication Record