Back to Search
Start Over
Is there clarity in ambiguity? A literature review of party positional ambiguity.
- Source :
-
Party Politics . Mar2024, Vol. 30 Issue 2, p334-344. 11p. - Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- The issue positions of political actors are often ambiguous, resulting in uncertainty on the part of voters. Such ambiguity constitutes a challenge to representation, as it prevents voters from getting a clear understanding of parties' positions. Ironically, despite growing interest in the concept, the concept itself is remarkably ambiguous: different studies use different conceptualisations of ambiguity, which hampers theory integration. This paper proposes a three-dimensional conceptualization of ambiguity: party positions are ambiguous to the extent that parties deemphasize them, remain vague or are inconsistent on them. A review of 103 studies establishes the prevalence of these three dimensions in the literature, shows that most studies focus on a single dimension, and reveals lacunae in the current research on ambiguity. Based on the three-dimensional conceptualisation, the paper then develops a preliminary framework on the causes of ambiguity, outlines key gaps in the literature and suggests promising avenues of theory development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *POLITICAL parties
*VOTERS
*POLITICAL organizations
*POLITICIANS
*LITERATURE reviews
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 13540688
- Volume :
- 30
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Party Politics
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 175871922
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688231151906