In the case of Johnson, fewer than 100,000 Conservative Party members elected him as their leader, thus making him prime minister, despite his approval rating of just 31% (compared to 47% who disapprove).Political scientists predict that a two-party system will represent the '
median voter,' because each party moves to the political center in order to capture half the votes plus one.
Political scientists predict that a two-party system will represent the "
median voter," because each party moves to the political center in order to capture half the votes plus one.
With two parties, each party aims its platform at what it perceives as the
median voter on that left-to-right continuum.
The
median voter in each district--who is effectively in the position of kingmaker--balances ideology with the ability to "bring home the bacon" when selecting his or her preferred political candidate, taking as given what happens elsewhere.
Their logic is that the negotiation of coalition governments allows for more viewpoints and that this process produces policy closer to what the
median voter wants.
"The
Median Voter Model in Public Choice Theory," Public Choice 61(2): 115-125.
He employs no poli-sci equations, regressions, or game theory, although he does invoke path dependence at one important juncture and the
median voter several times.
Median Voter Models suggest that there is trade-off between benefits and costs of voter due to redistribution.
The model implies that in the presence of strong family ties the
median voter might not be in favor of reforming a status quo characterized by strict labor market regulation and very high (youth) unemployment--as witnessed in the crisis countries in the years 2010 to 2014.
In this paper we both replicate and update an important paper in the
median voter model literature in order to see how the empirical model holds up nearly thirty years later.
Since political majorities (or the
median voter, the marginal member of the majority) can force political minorities to fund programs yielding benefits for the majority, government will tend to be larger than that observed under a rule of unanimity, and the expansion in the number of concentrated interest groups can result in the growth of government relative to the economy as a whole.
Implicit in the unique perspective thesis is the influence of the
median voter. Both presidents and members of Congress seek the
median voter's support, but legislators' constituencies are smaller and may be homogeneous with special economic interests.
