The Party and the Public: Party Cues, Identification, and Exposure in 21 Countries

• In Event: Comparing Political Communication: Cross-National Perspectives

Abstract

In a democracy, citizens are expected to form their own opinions. Previous research has shown, however, that citizens form their opinions by following cues from political parties. Building on these studies we argue that these cueing effects are the result of individuals identifying with political parties, leading to parties as credible sources and alignment of attitudes to maintain in-group coherence (motivated reasoning). Also, we argue that a party cue can only be successful when individuals are actually exposed, which previous studies did not explicitly model. Using survey data (N=20.911) collected from 21 EU member states during the European Parliament election campaign of 2009, we find support for our hypotheses. These results imply that although party cueing effects are present, they are not all decisive in a political environment of detaching party loyalty.

Keywords: public opinion, identities, political behaviour, quantitative - survey

Authors

• Rachid Azrout, Amsterdam School of Communication Research/University of Amsterdam

• Claes H. De Vreese, U of Amsterdam