cherry picking 2015 swiss federal elections: the influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10....

22
Cherry Picking at the 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of Electoral Campaigning on Panachage and Cumulation Marc Bühlmann, David Zumbach, Marlène Gerber, Anja Heidelberger 1 Paper to be presented at the panel “Parties in Congested and Contested Political Arenas”, ECPR Conference in Prague, 710 September 2016 Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning on candidates’ success at the 2015 Swiss elections to the National Council. Concretely, we ask whether and to what extent the intensity and content of a candidate’s campaign exerts a persuasive effect on voters. In doing so, we make use of a rather unique setting embedded in the open‐list PR‐system of Switzerland, namely allowing voters not only to duplicate candidates from a chosen list (cumulation) but also to add candidates from other parties and lists to their selected list (panachage). Using the amount of votes a candidate received from voters favoring other parties or lists gives us an idea about a candidate’s persuasive potential to gain votes outside his classical voter segment. We assess a candidate’s campaign based on a collection of almost 4,000 political advertisements gathered in 50 important supraregional and regional newspapers covering all 26 cantons, i.e. electoral districts. The influence of the electoral campaign is examined using hierarchical models, by modelling a candidate’s electoral success for each ballot list in his district. This procedure bears the advantage that we are in a better position to model the votes of an individual candidate in relation to the alternatives a voter was offered on other party lists. We find that the form as well as the intensity of electoral campaigning matter for electoral success in terms of both, votes gained from cumulation as well as votes gained from panachage. In contrast to findings from other open‐list PR‐systems, we find that challengers profit substantially more from electoral campaigning than incumbents do. 1 The order of authors has been determined by throwing the dice.

Upload: others

Post on 23-Sep-2020

0 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

CherryPickingatthe2015SwissFederalElections:TheInfluenceofElectoralCampaigningonPanachageandCumulation

MarcBühlmann,DavidZumbach,MarlèneGerber,AnjaHeidelberger1

Papertobepresentedatthepanel“PartiesinCongestedandContestedPoliticalArenas”,

ECPRConferenceinPrague,7‐10September2016

Abstract

Ourcontributionanalysestheinfluenceofelectoralcampaigningoncandidates’successatthe2015SwisselectionstotheNationalCouncil.Concretely,weaskwhetherandtowhatextenttheintensityandcontentofacandidate’scampaignexertsapersuasiveeffectonvoters.Indoingso,wemakeuseofaratheruniquesettingembeddedintheopen‐listPR‐systemofSwitzerland,

namelyallowingvotersnotonlytoduplicatecandidatesfromachosenlist(cumulation)butalsotoaddcandidatesfromotherpartiesandliststotheirselectedlist(panachage).Usingthe

amountofvotesacandidatereceivedfromvotersfavoringotherpartiesorlistsgivesusanideaaboutacandidate’spersuasivepotentialtogainvotesoutsidehisclassicalvotersegment.Weassessacandidate’scampaignbasedonacollectionofalmost4,000politicaladvertisementsgatheredin50importantsupraregionalandregionalnewspaperscoveringall26cantons,i.e.electoraldistricts.Theinfluenceoftheelectoralcampaignisexaminedusinghierarchicalmodels,bymodellingacandidate’selectoralsuccessforeachballotlistinhisdistrict.Thisprocedurebearstheadvantagethatweareinabetterpositiontomodelthevotesofan

individualcandidateinrelationtothealternativesavoterwasofferedonotherpartylists.Wefindthattheformaswellastheintensityofelectoralcampaigningmatterforelectoralsuccessintermsofboth,votesgainedfromcumulationaswellasvotesgainedfrompanachage.Incontrasttofindingsfromotheropen‐listPR‐systems,wefindthatchallengersprofitsubstantiallymore

fromelectoralcampaigningthanincumbentsdo.

1Theorderofauthorshasbeendeterminedbythrowingthedice.

Page 2: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

Introduction

Theprincipleofselectingrepresentativesbycitizensviapopularelectionsliesattheveryheart

ofrepresentativedemocracies.Inmostofthecases,thechoiceofthecandidatesisdetermined

bythepartyavoterdecidestosupport.Yetinsome–andmostlyEuropean–democracies,

citizensalsohavethepossibilitytovoteforcandidatesoftheirchoice,withinorevenacross

partylists.Asaconsequence,candidate‐specificfactorsbecomemoreimportantforelectoral

successinmultimemberdistrictsthatallowforthesocalled“preferentialvoting”comparedto

districtsthatdonot(e.g.,Sartori1976;Katz1986;CareyandShugart1995;Karvonen2004;

Shugartetal.2005).

Sincevotersdemandmoreinformationonacandidatewhentheyareallowedtochoosefroma

largersetofcandidates,researchersstartedtoexaminetheeffectofcandidatespecificfactors

suchaslocaltiesandlower‐levelpoliticalexperience(e.g.,Shugartetal.2005;Tavits2010;Put

andMaddens2015),incumbency(e.g.,Moon2006;MaddensandPut2013),acandidate’s

positiononthelist(e.g.,Lutz2010;Wautersetal.2010),hismediapresence(vanAelstetal.

2008;ElmelundandHopmann2012)andtheelectoralcampaign(e.g.,Bowleretal.1996;

Maddensetal.2006;MaddensandPut2013;SpieringsandJacobs2014)onelectoraloutcomes

inpreferentialvotesystems.

Whilemostofthesefactorsarepredefinedbyacandidatescurriculumvitae,acandidatestillhas

thepossibilitytopromotehimselfandhiscapabilitiesviaelectoralcampaigning–something

whichisoftenmadeuseofinsystemsknowingpreferentialvoting(Katz1986:101;Karvonen

2004).Uptonow,however,evidenceaboutwhether“effortstocultivatepersonalvotepayoff”

(Tavits2010:216)isinconclusive(see,e.g.,Bowleretal.1996;Maddensetal.2006;Elmelund

andHopmann2012;SpieringsandJacobs2014).Furthermore,theimpactofcampaignactivities

islikelytovaryacrosscountries(SpieringsandJacobs2014:217‐18),whichcallsformore

researchindifferentcontexts.

ThispaperanalysestheimpactofcampaignactivitiesonpreferentialvotinginSwitzerlandin

theframeworkofthe2015generalelectionstotheNationalCouncil.WefocusonSwitzerland

fortwoparticularreasons.First,wemakeuseofauniquedatasetconsistingofcampaign

advertisementspublishedinmorethan50importantnationalandregionalnewspapers

(Bühlmannetal.2015).Withthehelpofthisdata,wearenotonlyinapositiontoexaminethe

impactoftheintensityofpersonalcampaigns,butalsotheeffectoftheirformandcontent.

Second,theelectoralsysteminSwitzerlandischaracterizedbystrongpreferentialvoting

(Karvonen2004:208).Inmostofthecountriesthatholdacertainformofpreferentialvoting,

Page 3: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

onlycandidatesfromthesameparty(orlist)canbechosen.2Thusthepartychoicehasavery

predominantrole,implyingthatvoterslookatcandidates’attributesonlyafterhavingchosena

preferredpartyorlist.ThisisdifferentinSwitzerland:Swissvoterscan1)cumulateacandidate,

i.e.puthimtwiceonalist(mostlyimplyingthatanothercandidateneedstobedeletedfromthe

list),and2)andmostrelevantfortheaimofourinvestigation–includecandidatesfromanother

partyorlistontothechosenlist(socalledpanachageandagainimplyingtheexclusionofa

candidatefromachosenlist).Thistogetherwiththefactthat,afterdeterminingtheamountof

seatsapartyreceives,thedistributionofseatsisdictatedbythesumofindividualcandidates’

votes,islikelytopresentstrongincentivesforpersonalvote‐seekingbehaviour(SelbandLutz

2015;seealsoShugartetal.2005).Moreover,thisparticularityallowsustoexaminepotential

andunexploreddifferencesintheimpactofcampaigningbetween“loyal”preferentialvotes,i.e.

thecumulationofacandidatefromachosenlist,and“alien”preferentialvotes,i.e.thepanachage

ofcandidatesfromotherthanthechosenlist.

Thesubsequentsectionsofthepaperareorganizedasfollows.Inthenextsection,wediscuss

expectationsfortheimpactofelectoralcampaignsonpersonalvotes.Subsequently,wedescribe

thedataaswellasthemethod(section3)weusedinouranalyses,whichiswhatwepresentin

section4,beforewediscusstheimplicationsofourfindingsandconclude.

Campaigneffects

Broadlyspeaking,therearetwosystemsforparliamentaryelections:themajorityandplurality

versustheproportionalelectoralsystem.Themainaimofthefirsttypeistheselectionofthe

mostqualifiedcandidateinsingle‐memberdistricts.Thiswinner‐take‐all‐methodleadstothe

emergenceoftwo‐partysystems;withstrongincentivesforvoterstochooseamongcandidates

oftwostrongpartiesthatholdadequatechancestogainaseat(Duverger1959).Inthis

situation,apluralisticsocietyisonlybadlyrepresented.Adequaterepresentationofsuch

societalpluralityisthebasicaimoftheproportionalrepresentationsystemwherevotershaveto

choosebetweenseveralpartiesrepresentingdifferentideas.Inthissystemitisthepartiesthat

nominatecandidatesontheirlistsandcandidatevotingislesspronouncedthaninmajorityand

pluralitysystems.

Yetthecandidatesthatthepartiesputonthetopoftheirlistsmaydifferfromvoters’

preferences(Katz1997;Farell2011).Whileinmostcountrieswithproportionalrepresentation

2LeaningonKarvonen(2004)wecandifferentiatetwotypesoflistproportionalrepresentationsystems:insystemswhereyoucanonlychoosethepreferredpartyandputtheirlistintotheballotbox(closedlist),candidate‐centeredvotingisoflowimportance.However,therearealsosystemsallowingvoterstoinfluencewhichcandidateswillrepresentthem(openorfreelist).Differentrulesallowforarankingofthecandidatesonthelist(e.g.Ireland),forgivingsocalledpreferencevotesforspecificcandidatesonalist(e.g.Belgium)orallowingforfreelychoosingseveralcandidatesfromapartylist(e.g.Finland).

Page 4: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

system,votersaresimplyallowedtochoosetheirpreferredpartyandputtheirlistintothe

ballotbox(closedlistsystems),insomecountriestherearerulesgivingthevoterssome

influenceonthechoiceofthecandidates.Suchopenlistelectoralsystemstrytocombinethe

advantagesofmajoritarianandrepresentationalsystemsallowingforpartyaswellascandidate

choice,i.e.anideologicalaswellasapersonalrepresentation.

Intheirpathbreakingwork,CareyandShugart(1995)arguedthatinsuchanopenlistelectoral

system,candidateshavestrongincentivestoorienttheircampaigntowardstheirown

reputation.Ifvotershavethepossibilitytodecideoncandidates,theyaskforinformationabout

thecandidates.Thus,“candidatesmayattractsupportforwhotheyare,orwhattheyhavedone,

orwhattheymightdo,ratherthansimplybecauseofthepartytowhichtheybelong”(Marsh

2007:501).Severalstudiesshowedthatcandidate‐centredfactorsareindeedimportant

comparedtomereparty‐centredfactors(Karvonen2004;Marsh2007;Moser&Scheiner2005;

Shugartetal.2005;Swindle2002).

Thefollow‐upquestionis:whichcandidatespecificfactorshaveaninfluenceonelectoral

outcomes?Researchonthisquestionhighlightstheimpactoflocaltiesandlower‐levelpolitical

experience(e.g.,Shugartetal.2005;Tavits2010;PutandMaddens2015),incumbency(e.g.,

Moon2006;MaddensandPut2013),acandidate’spositiononthelist(e.g.,Lutz2010;Wauters

etal.2010)orhismediapresence(vanAelstetal.2008;ElmelundandHopmann2012)on

electoralsuccess(foradiscussionontheassumedeffectsofthesefactorsseebelow).

Besideshavinganinterestingcurriculum,acandidatecanalsopromotehimselfbycampaigning.

Campaignspendingisanimportantwaytoenhanceacandidate’svisibilityvisàvisthe

electorate.Severalstudiesfoundapositiveimpactofcampaignspendingonelectoraloutcome

(e.g.,Maddensetal.2006;MaddensandPut2013;SpieringsandJacobs2014;however,see

Bowleretal.1996;Elmelund‐PraestekaerandHopmann2012forcounter‐evidence).

Furthermore,thiseffectmightbestrongerforchallengers,sincevotersarelessornotatall

familiarwithnewcandidatesthantheyarewithincumbents.Thus,inthelattercase,the

“marginalreturnofcampaignexpensesshouldbelowerthanforchallengers,whohavetogain

visibilityduringthecampaignandcanonlydosothroughspending”(Maddens&Put2013:

853).ThisrelationshiphasrepeatedlybeendemonstratedintheU.S.(e.g.,Abramowitz1991;

Jacobson1978;Moon2006).Ontheotherhand,Maddensetal.(2006)couldnotdetectsuchan

effectinBelgiumwithitsproportionalelectoralsystemandsemi‐openlist.MaddensandPut

(2013:853)hypothesizethatinproportionallistsystemswithlargeconstituencies–the

averageBelgiumconstituencycounts13.6seats–theincumbentMPsarenotaswell‐knownas

theonesinsmallerconstituenciesorinmajoritariansystemswithsingle‐memberdistricts.Since

inlargeconstituencies,itismoredifficultforvoterstorecallalltheirincumbents,thecampaign

Page 5: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

effectbetweenincumbentandchallengersislikelytodiminishinlargerconstituencies.On

average,the26Swissconstituenciesare,with7.7seatsperconstituency,ofsmallersizethanthe

Belgiumones.3

However,inourcontributionwedonotsolelyfocusontheamountofcampaignexpenses.We

relyonauniquedatasetconsistingofcampaignadvertisementspublishedinmorethan50

importantnationalandregionalnewspapers(Bühlmannetal.2015).Withthehelpofthisdata,

weaimattestingtheeffectofthevisibility,theuniquenessandthelocalanchoringofa

candidate’scampaignonhiselectoraloutcome.InSwitzerland,candidatesarenotobligedto

disclosetheirfunding,whichiswhywehavetorelyonothermeasuresofcampaigning.

Althoughweagreethatothercampaigningstrategiessuchasadvertisinginsocialmediagainin

importance,peoplestillpaymuchmoreattentiontopoliticaladvertisementsinprintmediathan

towebpagesconcerningtheelections(Selects2011).4Inthefollowing,wearguethatitisnot

onlythecampaignexpenses,i.e.amereexposureeffectthatmatterbutalsothestrategyaswell

asthecontentofacandidate’scampaign.Toattract(alien)voters,acandidatemustbevisible,he

mustshowthatheisdifferentfromothercandidatesandhemustproveconnectednesswithhis

constituents.

Visibilityincreaseseligibility:Candidatesthataremorepresentduringthecampaignhavea

comparativeadvantageovercandidatesthatdonotpresentthemselves–independentofthe

contentoftheircampaign.First,theyincreasetheirvisibilityamongthevotersandsecond,they

mightprofitfromamererepeatedexposureeffect,i.e.fromthemechanismthatrepeated

exposuretoastimulusincreasesitsaccessibilitytotheindividual’sperception(Zajonc1968:1).

Suchaneffectisparticularlypronewhenindividualvoterspursuealow‐costinformation

strategyandrelyoncuespresentedtothem(e.g.,Moonsetal.2009,seealsoSteenbergen2010).

Furthermore,visibilitycanbeincreasedbyclever‘productplacement’(e.g.,Geise&

Brettschneider2010).Acolouredadvertisementonthefrontpageofanewspaperforexampleis

supposedtoattractmoreattentionthanablack‐whitedesignedadvertisementonthe

advertorialpageinthelastpartofthenewspaper.

Inordertocaptureamereexposureeffect,wetakethefrequencyofadspublishedper

candidate.Furthermore,weincludevariablesthatcapturethevisibilityofacandidate’s

campaign.Thesearetheproportionofacandidate’sadspublishedonthefirstpageofabundled

newspaperandtheproportionofadsprintedincolour.

3YettherangeintheSwissconstituenciesisquitesubstantial:sixoutof26cantonshavemorethan10seats,twoofthemmorethan20(Bern25;Zurich35).4InSwitzerland,electoralcampaigningontelevisionandradioisnotallowed.

Page 6: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

Individualizedcampaigninghelpstostandout:Acandidateaimingatattractingvotersthatdonot

intendtovoteforhispartyshouldshowsomedegreeofindependence.Ofcoursethereisafine

linebetweenattractingalienvotersandscaringofftheownfollowers.However,sinceparty

cohesionisassumedtobesmallerinpreferentialvotingsystems(Karvonen2004;Katz1986),

showingacertainamountofautonomycanhelptowinelections.Acandidatecandemonstrate

suchautonomybyconductingahighlypersonalizedcampaign,i.e.acampaignwherethegoalis

topromotethecandidateinsteadofthepartyheorsheisrunningfor(seee.g.,Zittel&

Gschwend2008;Selb&Lutz2015).InSwitzerland,candidatesareoftensupportedbyimportant

associations.Wearguethatthedegreetowhichacandidate’scampaignwasexternallyfunded–

weusethepercentageofacandidate’sadswherethisisthecase–accountsforthedegreeof

independencefromhisparty.Acandidatefundedbyanassociationcanpresenthimselfina

differentlightandatthesametimedistancehimselffromothercandidatesonhisownlist.Asan

additionalmeasure,weincludetheproportionofadswherethecandidatewascampaigning

withouthiscombatants,assumingthatadvertisingtogetherwithseveralcandidatesfromthe

samepartypromoteshigherpartyunity–attheexpenseofsinglecandidates.Additionally,by

showinghisconnectionwithanimportantassociation,acandidatealsogainsinuniqueness.

Demonstratinglocalrootednesspaysoff:Severalstudiesdemonstratetheimportanceof

candidates’local‐levelpoliticalcharacteristicsforelectoralsuccess(Tavits2010).Localtiesare

seenas“acrucialpersonalvote‐earningattribute”(PutandMaddens2015:608).Occupyinga

localoffice(Tavits2010)orlivinginbigmunicipalities(PutandMaddens2015)canincreasethe

numberofvotesacandidategets.Localbirthplaceandlocal‐levelpoliticalexperiencearesignals

forfamiliaritywithlocalinterests.Therefore,votersseemtorewardcandidateswithlocalroots.

However,wearguethatacandidateshouldactivelydemonstratethestrengthofhislocalties

duringhiscampaigntoconvinceevenmorevotersthanonlythosealreadyknowinghim.To

capturewhetheracandidate’scampaignislocallyrooted,weintroducedtheproportionofads

containingoneormoretestimonialswherelocalcelebritiespromotethecandidate.

Furthermore,weusetheproportionofadscallingattentiontoeventswherevoterswereableto

meetthecandidate.Weassumethatrealcontactwithvotershasahighpotentialtoincreasea

candidate’selectoralsuccess(Karvonen2004).

Ofcourse,lookingatthecontentratherthantheextentofcampaigningshouldalsoinclude

negativecampaigning.Negativeadvertisingseemstogrowinimportance(Geer2006).Providing

voterswithinformationaboutpoorcharacteristicsofanaliencandidatecanbeaninstrumentto

alienatevotersfromthecandidatesufferingfromnegativecampaigning(FridkinandKenney

2011).Yetnegativecampaigningcanalsoprovokeabacklashforthecandidateorthepartythat

sponsoredthenegativepromotion(BrooksandMurov2012;Lauetal.2007):adherentsofthe

negativelyadvertisedcandidategetmotivatedtosupporthimevenmore.Inordertoexamine

Page 7: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

thepotentialeffectofnegativecampaigning,weincludeabinaryvariablecapturingwhetherthe

candidatehasbeenavictimofnegativecampaigninginatleastoneadpublishedintheforefront

ofthegeneralelections.

DataandMethod

The2015generalelectionstotheNationalCouncilinSwitzerland

Switzerlandhasabicamerallegislatureandpopularelectionstakingplaceeveryfouryears,with

the26Swiss(half‐)cantonsformingthedistricts.WhileintheCouncilofStates,eachfullcanton

getstwoseatsandeachoftheformersixhalf‐cantonsreceivesone,theelectoralruleapplyingis

–withtwoexceptions–majoritarian.ThingsaredifferentintheNationalCouncil,wherethe200

seatsaredistributedaccordingtoacanton’spopulationsizeusingaproportionallistformula

(D’Hondt).AccordingtotheOSCE(2012:7),theSwisselectoralsystemis“unusuallycomplex,

[but]ithasthepositiveeffectofenhancingvoters’choice”.Itsfreelistsystemgiveseachvoteras

manyvotesasthereareseatsinhisorherdistrict(between1and35).Acitizencanerasenames

onpreprintedlists,voteformembersofdifferentpartiesorlists(panachage),givetwovotestoa

singlecandidate(cumulation)—andcandoallofthisatthesametime.Votingforalien

candidates(panachage)isquitepopular:inthe2015Swisselections,5’756’035votes(froma

totalof39’563’016votes)stemmedfrompanachage.Alreadyatthenationalelectionsin1975,

Niemetz(1977:299)detectedacertain“panachageenthusiasm”(Panaschierfreudigkeit),which

hetracedbacktoastrongerpersonalizationofthevotesratherthanthelooseningofpartyties.

Thus,theSwisssystemcombinesquiteuniquelytheadvantageofmajoritarianelectoralsystems

aimingatselectionofthemostqualifiedcandidatewiththeadvantageofproportional

representationaimingatpluralrepresentation.Thisgivesustheopportunitytotesttheimpact

ofcandidates’campaignactivitiesonboth,intra‐party(i.e.intra‐listcumulation)aswellasinter‐

partycompetition(i.e.inter‐listpanachage).Inthispaper,weundertakeanexploratory

approachandanalysecampaigneffectsonboth,“loyal”and“alien”preferencevotes.For

instance,onecouldassumethatindividualizedcampaignsincreasethevotesacandidate

receivesfromalienlistsbutnotnecessarilythevotesthatshereceivesfromvoterswhochose

herownpartylist.

Forourpurpose,wefocusonthe20cantonsthatdisposeofmorethanoneseatintheNational

Council,sincetheactofcumulationaswellaspanachagerequiresthepossibilitytovoteforat

leasttwocandidates.Intheselectedcantons,atotalof3788candidateswererunningon422

lists.1001outofthesecandidates(on220lists)placedatleastonecampaignadinoneormore

newspapersincludedinoursamplebetweenJanuary1standtheelectiondayonOctober18th.

Method

Page 8: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

Inordertoexaminetheeffectofcampaignactivityonpersonalvotesacandidatereceives,we

ranmultilevelmodelswithrandomintercepts.UnlikeotherstudieswhichusedtheSwiss

panachagestatistics(BFS2016)atanaggregatelevel(Lutz2010),i.e.usedthecandidates’total

numberofpreferencevotescast,wefullyexploitthedata’spotentialbymodellingacandidate’s

electoralsuccessforeachballotlistinhisdistrict.Thisprocedurebearstheadvantagethatwe

areinabetterpositiontomodelthevotesofanindividualcandidateinrelationtothe

alternativesavoterwasofferedonotherpartylists.Hence,asadependentvariable,weemploy,

ontheonehand,thedegreetowhichacandidatewasabletoexploitthepanachagepotentialofa

specificlist:

Y , (1a)

wherepijisthenumberofpanachagevotesobtainedbycandidateionlistjandbdthenumberof

validballotpapersforalistd≠j.Sincethepanachagepotentialisheavilyskewedtowardsthe

right,wetakethelogofit.

Ontheotherhand,weusethedegreetowhichacandidatewasabletorealisehiscumulation

potentialasadependentvariable,whichcorrespondstotheaboveexcludedspecialcaseofd=j:

Y (2a)

Ourfocusonthelist‐specificachievementallowsustocontrolforsomecrucialcharacteristicsof

theoriginofapreferentialvote,i.e.aspecificvotersegment,andthustomodelthevotedecision

moreaccurately.Todoso,weneedtoaccountforthefactthateachlistj‐to‐listd‐combinationin

(1a)itselfisnestedinacross‐classificationofthecorrespondingparty‐to‐party‐combination

(pjpd)andtheelectoraldistrict(canton(c)).Hence,equation(1a)mustberewrittenas:

Y (1b)

Almostthesameappliestothespecialcase(2a):

Y (2b)

Page 9: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

Sinceweassumethatunobservedfeaturesfromalltheselevelsaffectacandidate’sabilityto

exploithispersonalvotepotential,ourempiricalmodelsincludeseparatestandarderror

components.

Table1:Standarderrorcomponentsincludedintheregressionsof(1b)and(2b).

Panachagemodels Cumulationmodels

Cantons uc uc

Parties upjpd up

Lists ujd(pjpdc) uj(pjc)

Candidates uij(pjpdc)

Residual eijd(pjpdc) eij(pjc)

Takentogether,thisleadsustoacross‐classifiedrandomeffectsmodel(Snijders/Bosker1999)

whosecoefficientsareestimatedviarestrictedmaximumlikelihood(REML).

Besidethevariablesoftheassumedcampaigneffectsasdiscussedabove,weincludeseveral

additionalvariables.Atthecantonallevel,wecontrolfortheamountoflistspresentedtothe

voter,assumingthatahigheramountoflistsincreasesthechancesforavotertofindalistthat

matcheshispreferences,whichthuslowerstheamountofpersonalvotes.Furthermore,we

controlforthenumberofseats,ormandates,percanton(or,district).Furthermore,weinclude

twovariablesthatcapturewhetheracantonhas,comparedtothepreviouselectionanddueto

itsdemographicdevelopment,oneseatmoreorlesstooccupy.Althoughthesevariablesarenot

supposedtobedirectlyrelatedtothedependentvariable,theymightstronglyinfluencethe

degreeofcompetitionandthusthelevelofelectoralcampaigningwithinacanton.Wethus

includethesefactorsinordertoaccountforapotentialomittedvariablebias(seebelow).

Atthelevelofparties(or,party‐combinationsinthecaseofpanachage),weaccountforthe

overallvoteshareinthepreviouselections(2011)ofthepartythecandidatebelongsto,and–in

thecaseofthepanachagemodels–alsoforthe2011voteshareofthepartyreceivinga

(panachage)vote(=recipient).Incaseofthepanachagemodelswherecandidatesreceivevotes

fromoutsidetheirownlist,wealsoincludetheoverallvoteshareofthepartywhoselistisused

(donor)inordertoaddan“alien”candidate(whichgoeshandinhandwiththedonorparty

losingavote).Furthermore,weaddabinaryvariablethataccountsforthefactwhetherthe

donorandtherecipientlistbelongtothesamepartyornot.5

5InSwitzerland,partiesareallowedtorunonseverallistsandsublists(i.e.listswithfemalecandidatesandmalecandidatesonly,listswithyoungcandidates,etc.).

Page 10: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

Attheleveloflists(or,list‐combinationsinthecaseofpanachage),wecontrolwhethera

candidatereceivingavote(=recipient)ispresentedonthemainorthejuniorlistofaparty

(comparedtootherlistsofaparty,suchasSwissabroad,greypanthers,etc.)aswellasthe

numberofmandateswonbythepartyin2011inordertomonitorthestrengthoftherecipient

listinagivencanton.Incaseofthepanachagemodels,weincludeexactlythesamevariablesfor

thedonorparty,i.e.thepartywhoselistwaschosenandwhereanexternalcandidatewasadded

to.Here,weassumethatcandidatesfrompowerfullistsarelikelytobeenlistedonother,less

powerfullists.Inaddition,wecontrolfortheorderoftherecipient’slist(assumingthatfront

listsreceivemoreattention)andwhetherthechosenlist(donor)disposesoffreespots,which

enhancesthepotentialforcumulationorpanachagesincenocandidateneedstobereplaced.

Furthermore,wecontrolforthefactthatpartiesareallowedtoallywithotherpartiesin

“combinedlists”(apparentments)andalsotocreate“sub‐lists,”e.g.foryoungorfemale

candidatesonly.Here,weassumethatvotersaremorelikelytoenclosecandidateswithina

combinedlist.

Atthecandidatelevel,wecontrolforalargesetofpotentialpersonalvoteearningattributes

(Shugartetal.2005).Onegroupofvariablesisintroducedtoaccountforthepoliticalexpertiseof

acandidate.Oneofthestrongestfactorsfoundinvirtuallyallstudiesonpreferencevotingis

incumbency(Carsonetal.2007;Cox&Katz1996;Gelman&King1990;Maddens&Put2013;

Put&Maddens2015),sinceincumbentsdisposeoftraceablepoliticalexperienceandemanate

familiarity.Furthermoreandforasimilarreason,weincludeabinaryvariablecapturing

whetherthecandidateisalsorunningfortheprestigioussecondchamberoftheCouncilof

States.However,politicalexperiencecanalsobegainedatthelocallevel.Thetypicalcareerofa

(Swiss)politicianbeginsatthelocalandendsatthenationallevel.EvenifthisOchsentour

(drudgery),asitiscalledinSwitzerland,isnolongeraswidespreadasitwasinthe20th

century,holdingapoliticalofficeatthelocallevelcanbeasignofpoliticalexpertise.

Additionally,alocalofficeimplieslocalrootsthatcouldattractvoterslookingforcandidates

whopromiserepresentingtheconstituency(Tavits2010).Therefore,wecontrolforwhethera

candidateholdsapoliticalofficeatthelocalorcantonallevel.Furthermore,localtiesmaybe

connectedtoconstituency‐orientationandthusbearhigherincentivesforvoterstoconsidera

localcandidate(Blaisetal.2003;Tavits2010),whichiswhywealsoconsiderwhethera

candidateisrunningforofficeinthesamecantonwherehishometownislocated.Lastbutnot

least,acandidate’spersonalcharacteristicsmayinfluenceitsvotingpotential,sincevotersmight

striveforenhancingdescriptiverepresentation(Mansbridge1999;BühlmannandSchädel

Page 11: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

2012).Therefore,weincludecontrolsforgender,ageandprofession(farmers,workers,and

academics).6

Furthermore,wecontrolforadditionalfactorslocatedatthecandidatelevel:Severalstudies

highlighttheimportanceofballotposition(foranoverviewseeSpierings&Jacobs2014).The

positiononthepartylisthasproventobeanimportantdeterminantofelectoralsuccess,in

Switzerlandaswellaselsewhere(e.g.,Lutz2010;Tavits2010).Sincecampaigningisstrategic,

i.e.dependentontheexpectedchancesofelectoralsuccess,weneedtoidentifyfactorsthat

directlyaffecttheendogeneousregressor(campaigning)withoutdirectlyaffectingthe

dependentvariable,inordertoprecludetheproblemofomittedvariablebias(Moon2006).One

suchfactoriswhetheracandidateoccupiesawaiting‐listposition.Here,weexpectcandidates

thatholdthepositiononthelistthatwouldsignifyagaininseatforapartytohaveparticularly

strongincentivestoinvestinhiscampaignsincehischancestosucceedarerealbutnotcertain.

Asanexample,considertheSwissPopulistPartyinthecantonofZurichwhoheld11seats

duringthe2011/15legislature.Sinceinmostofthecantons,theorderofthecandidatesis

determinedbytheirpoliticalexperienceandincumbencystatus,thecandidateonthe12th

positionofthelisthasahigherincentivetogatherpersonalvotesthanthecandidatesplaced

beforeandafterhim.

Results

Wefirstpresentourmodelsofthepanachagepotential,i.e.determinantsofpreferentialvotes

receivedfromoutsideacandidate’sownpartylist.Turningtoourcontrolvariables(Model1,

Table2),resultsareasexpected:candidatesbelongingtolargerpartiesalsoexhibitahigher

panachagepotentialthancandidatesfrommoremarginalizedpartiesorlists.Furthermore,

closenesspaysout:candidatesaresubstantiallymorelikelytobeaddedtootherlistsofthe

samepartyor,tosomedegree,alsotoconnectedlists.Wealsofindtheassumedeffectofthe

ballotposition:thefurtherupacandidateisplacedinthelist,themorevotesshereceivedfrom

panachage.Furthermore,politicalexpertiseishighlyvaluedbyvoters.IncumbentMPsarefar

morelikelytoreceivepanachagevotesthantheirchallengers.Alsoholdingapoliticalofficeon

themunicipalityorthecantonallevelbearsacomparativeadvantageandsodoesrunning

simultaneouslyforthemoreprestigioussecondchamber,theCouncilofStates.Interestingly,

womenandyoungercandidateshaveasignificantlyhigherpanachagepotentialthantheirpeers,

presentingafirsthintthatthepanachagevotealsoservestoenhancedescriptiverepresentation.

6Inthesocalled„militiasystem“inSwitzerlandrepresentativesarenotprofessionalpoliticiansbuttheypursueaprofessionbesidetheirpoliticalmandate.Thus,mostofthecandidates(andevenincumbents)mentiontheiroccupation.Ofcourse,nobodycontrolsifthecandidatesreallypractisethementionedjobortowhatlevel.Thereareevenmentionedsuchthingsas“politician”or“artistoflive”.However,wearguethatthementionofanoccupationisanimportantsellingargumentforacandidate.

Page 12: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

Likewise,farmersarefarmorelikelytobeaddedtoexistinglists,whilethecontraryappliesto

workers,althoughthisrelationshipisweakerandonlymarginallysignificant.Moreover,

candidatesrunningincantonswithahighernumberofseatsdisplayalowerpanachage

potential,leavinguswiththeassumptionthatthehigherthenumberofcandidatestobeelected,

thebetterthelistofcandidatesalreadyreflectsthevoters’willandthelesspanachageis

necessary.Lastbutnotleast,candidatesalsoreceivesignificantlymorepanachagevotesfrom

listswithemptylines.Apparently,voterstendtomaximizetheirvotingpotentialbyadding

additionalcandidatestoemptyspotsonthelist.

Table2:Determinantsofpanachagesuccess    Model 1 Model 2  Model 3

  Intercept  ‐5.449 (0.224)** ‐5.346 (0.23)**  ‐5.346 (0.229)**

Canton  No. of mandates  ‐0.051 (0.009)** ‐0.048 (0.008)**  ‐0.047 (0.008)**  Additional mandate  0.191 (0.187)  0.186 (0.186)  Mandate Reduction  ‐0.039 (0.149)  ‐0.031 (0.148)  No. of lists  ‐0.002 (0.012) ‐0.010 (0.012)  ‐0.010 (0.012)

Party  Recipient: Vote share 2011  0.007 (0.005) 0.002 (0.005)  0.002 (0.005)  Donor: Vote share 2011  ‐0.030 (0.005)** ‐0.030 (0.005)**  ‐0.030 (0.005)**  Same party  1.213 (0.184)** 1.198 (0.183)**  1.197 (0.183)**

List  Recipient: main  0.478 (0.041)** 0.410 (0.041)**  0.402 (0.041)**  Recipient: junior  ‐0.077 (0.044)° ‐0.057 (0.043)  ‐0.049 (0.043)  Recipient: position  ‐0.003 (0.002) ‐0.001 (0.002)  ‐0.001 (0.002)  Recipient: No. of mandates 2011  0.088 (0.010)** 0.077 (0.010)**  0.076 (0.010)**  Donor: main ‐0.591 (0.025)** ‐0.592 (0.025)**  ‐0.592 (0.025)**  Donor: junior 0.146 (0.025)** 0.146 (0.025)**  0.146 (0.025)**  Donor: No. of mandates 2011  ‐0.086 (0.008)** ‐0.086 (0.008)**  ‐0.086 (0.008)**  Donor: No. of empty lines on ballot 0.049 (0.002)** 0.049 (0.002)**  0.049 (0.002)**  Combined lists 0.237 (0.029)** 0.237 (0.029)**  0.236 (0.029)**

Candidate  Ballot position ‐0.018 (0.001)** ‐0.018 (0.001)**  ‐0.018 (0.001)**  Waiting‐list position  ‐0.179 (0.078)*  ‐0.170 (0.078)*  Incumbent  1.408 (0.042)** 1.240 (0.046)**  1.435 (0.054)**  Age  ‐0.002 (0.001)* ‐0.002 (0.001)**  ‐0.002 (0.001)**  Woman  0.106 (0.017)** 0.108 (0.017)**  0.109 (0.017)**  Runs for Council of States  0.653 (0.054)** 0.521 (0.054)**  0.537 (0.054)**  Holds political office on municipality level 0.157 (0.031)** 0.157 (0.030)**  0.157 (0.030)**  Holds political office on cantonal level 0.340 (0.035)** 0.299 (0.035)**  0.278 (0.035)**  Locally anchored  0.084 (0.017)** 0.079 (0.016)**  0.077 (0.016)**  Academic  0.026 (0.019) 0.030 (0.019)  0.029 (0.019)  Farmer  0.313 (0.043)** 0.346 (0.042)**  0.349 (0.042)**  Worker  ‐0.072 (0.037)° ‐0.070 (0.036)°  ‐0.068 (0.036)°

Campaign  No. of advertisements  0.012 (0.002)**  0.023 (0.002)**  Share of advertisements on front page 0.155 (0.062)*  0.146 (0.061)*  Share of individual advertisements 0.158 (0.052)**  0.141 (0.052)**  Share of advertisements in colour  0.156 (0.035)**  0.119 (0.036)**  Share of externally funded advertisements ‐0.022 (0.043)  ‐0.040 (0.043)  Share of testimonial advertisements 0.150 (0.089)°  0.123 (0.089)  Share of event advertisements  0.262 (0.107)*  0.231 (0.107)*  Negative campaigning  ‐0.117 (0.089)  ‐0.113 (0.088)

Interactions  (Incumbent)x(No. of advertisements)   ‐0.021 (0.003)**

Random effect  Cantonal‐Level 0.236 0.216   0.215SDs  Party‐Level  0.636 0.636   0.635  List‐Level  0.658 0.656   0.656  Candidate‐Level  0.454 0.443   0.441  Residual  0.608 0.608   0.608

Notes:REML‐estimatesfromtheregressionoflogpanachagesuccessondifferentmeasures.Nobservations=94174,NCandidates=3788,NList.‐combinations=9314,NParty‐combinations=336,NCantons=20;**99%;*95%;°90%.

Page 13: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

Turningtoourcampaignvariables(Model2,Table2),wefindthatthemoreoftenacandidate

waspresentedonadvertisements,thehigherhispanachagepotential.7Alsotheadditional

campaignvariablesintroducedtocapturethevisibilityofacandidate’scampaign(shareof

colouredadsandtheshareofadspresentedonthefrontpageofanewspaper)provetobe

significant.Furthermore,anindividualizedstyleofcampaigningapparentlymakesacandidate

moreattractiveforvoterswhochoseanotherpartylistthanthecandidate’s:theshareof

externallyfundedcampaignadsissignificantlyandpositivelyrelatedtothepanachagepotential.

Theshareofcampaignadsdisplayingacandidate’snametogetherwiththeinvitationtoa

campaigneventgeneratesadditionalvoterpotential,too.However,displayinglocalrootedness

bylettingspeaktestimonials(i.e.usuallypotentialvoters)inone’scampaignissupposedtobe

onlymarginallysignificant.Furthermore,victimsofnegativecampaigningdonotnecessarily

havetofearnegativeeffects:althoughthepostulatedrelationtothepanachagepotentialis

negative,itisnotsignificant.

Inmodel3ofTable2,weinteractedtheincumbencystatuswiththenumberofcampaignadsin

ordertoexplorewhetherelectoralcampaigningpaysoutdifferentlyforchallengersand

incumbents.AsFigure1shows,thisisindeedthecase.Whileincumbentsdobarelyseemto

profitfrom(extensive)electoralcampaigning,challengerscan.Inthissense,ourresultsconcur

withevidencefromtheU.S.(e.g.,Abramowitz1991;Jacobson1978;Moon2006)whilethey

standincontrasttofindingsfromBelgium(MaddensandPut2013).Asdiscussedabove,

MaddensandPut(2013:853)tracetheirnon‐findingbacktothesizeoftheconstituency:in

largeconstituencies,itmightbemoredifficulttorecallallincumbentMPs,whileitiseasierin

smallerconstituenciesorinmajoritarianelectoralsystemswithsingle‐memberdistrictssuchas

theU.S.TheaverageSwissconstituencyis,with7.7seatsperunit,almosthalfasbigasthe

averageBelgiumconstituency(13.6).Byinteractingthechallenger’scampaigneffectwith

districtsize,futureresearchmightshedmorelightonthismatter.

7Ofcourse,ourmodelsruntheriskofoverestimatingthecampaigneffectsinceirrelevantchallengersareincludedaswell(seee.g.,Maddens&Put2013:853).Yetwealsoranmodelswhereweonlyincludedcandidateswhowereondisplayofatleastonecampaignad(Ncandidates=1001),assumingthatonlypotentiallyrelevantchallengersinvestedincampaignspending.However,resultsdidnotchangesubstantially(resultsavailableonrequest).

Page 14: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

Figure1:Effectofcampaignintensityonelectoralsuccess(panachageexploitation)

Notes:ThisfigureisbasedontheinteractioneffectincludedinModel3,displayedinTable2.Campaignintensityiscapturedbyacandidate’stotalnumberofcampaignads.

Inthesecondsetofmodelsweexplorethecumulationpotentialofacandidate,i.e.thevoteshe

orshegetsfromhisownpartylist(Table3).Here,weareforemostinterestedinthedifferences

betweenintra‐andinter‐listsuccess.Comparedtothepanachagemodels(Table2)itstrikesthat

womenandyoungcandidatesarenotmorelikely(althoughalsonotlesslikely)tobecumulated

thantheirpeers.Thus,ourresultspresentafirsthintthatvotersmightstrivefordescriptive

representationviapanachage:seemingly,therearemanyvoterswhocompletetheirlistswith

womenandyoungcandidatesaimingatimprovingtheir(under‐)representationinthenational

parliament.Ontheotherhand,farmersare–again–notonlymorelikelytoreceiveadditional

votes,workersarealsosignificantlylesslikelytobeselected.Furthermore,beinganacademic

seemstoincreasetheelectoralsuccessintermsofvotesreceivedfromcumulation.Allinall,a

candidate’sprofessionorlevelofeducationthusseemstomattersomewhatmoreforintra‐list

competition.

Page 15: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

Table3:Determinantsofcumulationsuccess    Model 1 Model 2  Model 3

  Intercept  ‐2.888 (0.306)** ‐2.636 (0.308)**  ‐2.635 (0.307)**

Canton  No. of mandates  ‐0.021 (0.013) ‐0.023 (0.012)°  ‐0.023 (0.012)°  Additional mandate  0.478 (0.269)°  0.475 (0.268)°  Mandate Reduction  ‐0.1 (0.213)  ‐0.096 (0.212)  No. of lists  ‐0.005 (0.006) 0.029 (0.017)  0.029 (0.017)

Party  Vote share 2011  0.208 (0.052)** ‐0.007 (0.006)  ‐0.008 (0.006)

List  Main  0.157 (0.051)** 0.168 (0.053)**  0.164 (0.053)**  Junior  0.010 (0.003)** 0.158 (0.051)**  0.162 (0.051)**  Position  0.045 (0.004)** 0.01 (0.003)**  0.010 (0.003)**  No. of empty lines on ballot  0.053 (0.016)** 0.044 (0.004)**  0.044 (0.004)**  No. of mandates 2011  ‐0.010 (0.001)** 0.05 (0.016)**  0.050 (0.016)**

Candidate  Ballot position ‐0.005 (0.006) ‐0.010 (0.001)**  ‐0.010 (0.001)**  Waiting‐list position  ‐0.138 (0.044)**  ‐0.135 (0.044)**  Incumbent  0.614 (0.024)** 0.530 (0.026)**  0.591 (0.031)**  Age  0.000 (0.000) ‐0.001 (0.000)  ‐0.001 (0.000)  Woman  0.011 (0.010) 0.012 (0.010)  0.012 (0.010)  Runs for Council of States  0.297 (0.031)** 0.228 (0.031)**  0.231 (0.031)**  Holds political office on municipality level 0.074 (0.018)** 0.075 (0.017)**  0.076 (0.017)**  Holds political office on cantonal level 0.179 (0.021)** 0.161 (0.021)**  0.155 (0.021)**  Locally anchored  0.031 (0.010)** 0.030 (0.009)**  0.029 (0.009)**  Academic  0.022 (0.011)° 0.024 (0.011)*  0.023 (0.011)*  Farmer  0.068 (0.024)** 0.088 (0.024)**  0.089 (0.024)**  Worker  ‐0.062 (0.021)** ‐0.060 (0.021)**  ‐0.060 (0.021)**

Campaign  No. of advertisements  0.005 (0.001)**  0.009 (0.002)**  Share of advertisements on front page 0.093 (0.042)*  0.089 (0.042)*  Share of individual advertisements 0.117 (0.033)**  0.109 (0.033)**  Share of advertisements in colour  0.003 (0.025)  ‐0.007 (0.025)  Share of externally funded advertisements 0.065 (0.026)*  0.057 (0.026)*  Share of testimonial advertisements 0.120 (0.064)°  0.101 (0.064)  Share of event advertisements  0.144 (0.066)*  0.134 (0.066)**  Negative campaigning  0.042 (0.055)  0.046 (0.055)

Interactions  (Incumbent)x(No. of advertisements)   ‐0.007 (0.002)**

Random effect  Cantonal‐Level 0.348 0.315   0.312SDs  Party‐Level  0.181 0.189   0.190  List‐Level  0.269 0.269   0.270  Residual  0.260 0.256   0.255

Notes:REML‐estimatesfromtheregressionoflogcumulationsuccessondifferentmeasures.NCandidates=3788,NLists=422,NParties=20,NCantons=20;**99%;*95%;°90%.

Intermsofcampaignadvertisements,wecannotdetectstrongdifferencesbetweenthetwosets

ofmodels,althoughingeneral,thecampaigneffectsappeartobeslightlylesscertain.Yet

particularlydisplayinglocaltiesbyinvitingvoterstopre‐electionpartiesorbyincluding

testimonialstopromoteone’svoteseemstoexertlessaneffectonloyalvotersthanonvoters

whochooseanotherpartylistthanthecandidatetheyaddedtothelist.Thesameholdstruefor

oneaspectofthevisibilityofacandidate’scampaign:theimpactofcolouredadvertisementsis

lessimportantforcumulationthanforpanachage.Finally,eveniftheimpactisnotsignificant,a

lookatthefindingsforthenegativeadvertisementsisnoticeablebecauseofthereversalofthe

sign.Whilenegativecampaigningtendstonegativelyinfluencepanachagesuccess,itratheris

rewardingforintra‐partychoice.Wetentativelyassumethatitisthemostextremecandidatesof

agivenlistthatarenegativelyportrayedbyotherparties.Itisthesecandidateshowever,that

mostattractstheownvoters.Ofcourse,theresultsarenotsignificantandthereisonlyveryfew

Page 16: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

negativecampaigninginSwitzerland.However,giventhestabilityofallotherresultsthechange

ofsignisworthnoting.

Wemayonlyspeculateaboutthereasonsforthese–allinall–quitesmalldifferences.One

mightbethat,giventhe–onaverage–rathersmalldistrictsizeofSwisscantons,votersalready

knowthecandidatesoftheirpreferredpartylistwhilecandidatesfromotherlistsstillhavethe

possibilitytoattractanalienvoters’interestbymakingthemselvesknownvia(local)electoral

campaigning.Howeverandagainstourexpectations,individualizedcampaigningalsoenhances

thecumulationpotential.Apossiblereasonforthisfindingmightbethewayweoperationalized

ourvariable.Campaignadvertisementssponsoredbyassociationsmightnotnecessarily

underminetheintra‐listpopularityofacandidate,particularlynotiftheassociationstands

ideologicallyclosetothepartylistchosen.Here,amorefine‐grainedoperationalizationof

individualizedcampaigningmighthaveledtodifferentresults.

Discussion

Thispaperfollowsthetraditionofanalysisofelectoralperformanceinansweringthe

fundamentalquestionofwhogetselected.Theopenlist‐systeminSwitzerlandallowsforboth,

gatheringadditionalvotesfrominsideacandidate’sownlist(intra‐list‐votes;socalled

cumulation),aswellasadditionalvotesfromoutsidehisownlist(inter‐list‐votes;socalled

panachage).Ifweconsiderchoosingalistastheideologicalactofvoting,theanalysisofthe

additionalvotes(duetocumulationand/orpanachage)allowsustoexaminethevoting

preferencescontrollingforideologicalaffiliation.Inthissense,weaskwhichfactorsbesides

ideologyvotersexplicitlyorimplicitlyconsidertobeimportantwhenselectingtheircandidates.

Morespecifically,weareinterestedintheeffectsofelectoralcampaigningonthevoterpotential

andadoptanexploratoryapproachtodetectpotentialdifferencesbetweencampaigneffectsfor

cumulativeandpanachagevotes.

Besidesthepotentialtoenrichthediscussionontheconditionsofelectoralsuccessinopen‐list

proportionalsystems,thecomparisonhasamethodologicaladvantage.Otherthanprevious

studies,wefullyexploitthedata’spotentialbymodellingthevotesofanindividualcandidatein

relationtothealternativesavoterwasofferedonthesameaswellasonotherpartylists.

Thecombinationofouruniquedatasetconsistingofcampaignadvertisementspublishedin

morethan50importantnationalandregionalnewspapers(Bühlmannetal.2015)withthe

officialstatisticsofpanachageandcumulation(BFS2016)showthatcampaigningindeedisan

importantfactorforincreasingtheprobabilityofgettingapanachageoracumulationvote.Not

onlythenumberofadvertisementsbutalsotheircontent,i.e.whethertheyshowthecandidate

Page 17: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

aloneorpromoteaneventtogettoknowthecandidate,significantlyincreasebothkindsof

additionalvotes.Thesefactorsthereforehelpacandidatestandoutagainstherpartycolleagues

aswellasagainstcandidatesfromotherlists.

Theseresultsareinaccordancewithpreviousstudieswhichhaveshownthatstronger

campaigningactivitiesincreasethefamiliaritywiththecandidates(Biersacketal.1993,

Bonneau2007,Jacobson1990).Thisalsoexplainsthehigherbenefitofcampaignspendingfor

challengerscomparedtoincumbents:theformerarelesswellknownandcanthusintroduce

themselvesviacampaigning.Campaigningthusallowsvoterstolookbeyondwhattheyalready

know,i.e.toconsideralienlistsandlessfamiliarcandidates.

Tosomeextent,however,ourresultsalsochallengehithertofindingsorourownexpectations.

Wehighlightthreepoints:

(1) Whiletheresultconcerningthedifferentimpactofcampaigningforincumbentsand

challengersconcurwithfindingsfromtheUSelections,theydeviatefromfindingsfrom

Belgium(Maddensetal.2006)orBrazil(Samuels2001).ThedifferencesbetweenBelgium/

BrazilandtheUScannotfullybeexplainedbythevotingsystem,giventhatBelgiumand

BrazilaswellasSwitzerlandarecharacterizedasopen‐listPRsystems.Sincethecountry

studiesdifferinseveralterms,suchasdistrictsizeoroperationalizationofourcampaign

variable,werefrainfromattemptstoexplainthesedifferencesatthispoint.Nevertheless,

theseresultsclaimforfurtherinvestigation,atthenationalaswellasattheinternational

level.

(2) Wedidnotdetectlargedifferencesofcampaigninfluencewhencomparingvotesreceived

frompanachage(inter‐listcompetition)totheonesreceivedfromcumulation(intra‐list

competition).Yetagain,itistooearlytodrawdefinitiveconclusions.Alternativemeasures

ofthecontentofacampaign,forexampleasregardsthedegreeofindividualized

campaigning,mighthaveledtodifferentresults.Furthermore,districtsizemightmakea

difference:whilewithincreasingdistrictsize,itbecomesmoredifficulttorememberall

candidatesfromachosenlist,itmightbecomeevenmoredifficulttoremember“alien”

candidates(whichmakesitcomparativelyeasierforthelattertomakethemselvesknown

viacampaigning).

(3) Yettheimportanceofhavingthechoicetoaddcandidatesfromtheselectedaswellas

candidatesfromalienlistswasdemonstratedforothernon‐campaignrelatedfactors.Most

interesting,youngorfemalecandidatesgetsignificantlymorepanachagevotesthanolder

ormalecandidates,whiletherearenosuchdifferencesconcerningcumulationvotes.Many

votersthusactivelysearchforyoungorfemalecandidatesonalienliststocompletethelist

oftheirfirst(ideological)choice.Weassumethatthiscanbeattributedtothe

Page 18: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

underrepresentationofsuchcandidatesonmostmainlists.Thisfindingshowsone

advantageofthefullyopenlistsysteminSwitzerland.Whenvotersareallowedtochoose

amongcandidatesnotonlyfromtheirselectedlistbutamonganycandidatefromanylist,

theybenefitfromtheadvantagesofboth,thecandidatecentredmajoritarianaswellasthe

ideologycentredproportionalsystem.Suchasystemseeminglyallowsforboth,descriptive

aswellasideologicalrepresentation.

Ourcontributionsuggestsseveralavenuesforimprovement.First,whileweincludedafair

amountofimportantfactors,therestillaresomeaspectsthatarenotyetconsideredinour

models.Theseareadditionalideologicalfactors:itwouldbeinterestingtocontrolforthe

ideologicaldistancebetweentherecipientanddonorlists(althoughwealreadyslightly

approachthisbycontrollingforlistapparentments)aswellasforthemainissuesofanelection

campaign.Thiswouldofferapossibilitytocomparetheimpactofideologicalaswellasnon‐

ideologicalfactorsonpersonalvotesreceived.Second,itwouldbeworthwhiletoexplorethe

hypothesizedinfluenceofdistrictsizeontheimpactofelectoralcampaigns,asforexampleby

comparingthecampaigneffectsfortheelectionstotheFirstandtheSecondChamber–or

interactingcampaigneffectswithdistrictsize.Third,wecapturedelectoralcampaigningvia

advertisementsplacedinnationalandregionalnewspapers.AlthoughinSwitzerland,

newspapersofferstillanimportant,ifnotthemostimportant,arenaforelectoralcampaigning,

otherchannelsofcampaigninggaininimportance.Mostnotably,socialmedia(seee.g.,Spierings

&Jacobs2014)offerstheopportunityforengaginginanewtypeofcampaigningthatmaynot

onlybecharacterizedbylowercostsbutaswellbyahigherintensityofpoliticaladvertising.

Thus,moreresearchisneededtoinvestigatetheinterplaybetweenideology,candidatefactors

andcampaignstrategiesforvotechoiceandelectoralsuccess.Nevertheless,ourpapershows

thathavingtheopportunity,manyvoterspicktheircherriesnotonlyfromonebutfrom

differenttrees.

Page 19: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

Literature

Abramowitz,AlanI.1991.„Incumbency,CampaignSpending,andtheDeclineofCompetitioninU.S.HouseElections“.TheJournalofPolitics53(1):34–56.

vanAelst,Peter,BartMaddens,JoNoppe,andStefaanFiers.2008.„PoliticiansintheNews:MediaorPartyLogic?MediaAttentionandElectoralSuccessintheBelgianElectionCampaignof2003“.EuropeanJournalofCommunication23(2):193–210.

Biersack,Robert,PaulS.Herrnson,andClydeWilcox.1993.„SeedsforSuccess:EarlyMoneyinCongressionalElections“.LegislativeStudiesQuarterly18:535–51.

Blais, André et al. 2003. „Does the Local CandidateMatter? Candidate Effects in theCanadianElection of 2000“. Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de sciencepolitique36(3):657–664.

Bonneau,ChrisW.2007.„TheEffectsofCampaignSpendinginStateSupremeCourtElections“.PoliticalResearchQuarterly60:489‐499.

Bowler, Shaun, David M Farrell, and Ian McAllister. 1996. „Constituency campaigning inparliamentary systemswith preferential voting: Is there a paradox?“Electoral Studies15(4):461–76.

Brooks,DeborahJordan,andMichaelMurov.2012.„AssessingAccountabilityinaPost‐CitizensUnited Era The Effects of Attack Ad Sponsorship by Unknown Independent Groups“.AmericanPoliticsResearch40(3):383–418.

Bühlmann, Marc, Marlène Gerber, Laura Salathe, and David Zumbach. 2015. PoliticalAdvertisements in the2015FederalElections [Database]. Bern: Année Politique Suisse,InstituteofPoliticalScience,UniversityofBern.

Bühlmann,Marc, and Lisa Schädel. 2012. „RepresentationMatters: The Impact of DescriptiveWomen’sRepresentationonthePoliticalInvolvementofWomen“.Representation48(1):101–14.

Carey,JohnM,andMatthewSobergShugart.1995.„Incentivestocultivateapersonalvote:Arankorderingofelectoralformulas“.ElectoralStudies14(4):417–39.

Carson,JamieL.,ErikJ.Engstrom,andJasonM.Roberts.2007.„CandidateQuality,thePersonalVote, and the Incumbency Advantage in Congress“. American Political Science Review101(2):289–301.

Cox,GaryW., and JonathanN.Katz. 1996. „WhyDid the IncumbencyAdvantage inU.S.HouseElectionsGrow?“AmericanJournalofPoliticalScience40(2):478–97.

Dowling, ConorM., andAmberWichowsky. 2015. „Attackswithout Consequence? Candidates,Parties, Groups, and the Changing Face of Negative Advertising“. American Journal ofPoliticalScience59(1):19–36.

Duverger,Maurice.1959.PoliticalParties:TheirOrganizationandActivity in theModernState.London:Methuen.

Elmelund‐Præstekær,Christian,andDavidNicolasHopmann.2012.„DoesTelevisionPersonaliseVotingBehaviour?Studying theEffectsofMediaExposureonVoting forCandidatesorParties“.ScandinavianPoliticalStudies35(2):117–40.

Page 20: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

Farrell, David M. 2011. Electoral Systems: A Comparative Introduction. New York: PalgraveMacmillan.

Fridkin,KimL.,andPatrickKenney.2011.„VariabilityinCitizens’ReactionstoDifferentTypesofNegativeCampaigns“.AmericanJournalofPoliticalScience55(2):307–25.

Geer, John. 2006. In Defense of Negativity: Attack Ads in Presidential Campaigns. Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress.

Geise, Stephanie, and Frank Brettschneider. 2010. „Die Wahrnehmung und Bewertung vonWahlplakaten: Ergebnisse einer Eyetracking‐Studie“. In Information–Wahrnehmung–Emotion. Politische Psychologie in derWahl‐ und Einstellungsforschung, hrsg. ThorstenFaas, Kai Arzheimer, und Sigrid Rossteutscher. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag fürSozialwissenschaften,71–95.

Gelman, Andrew, and Gary King. 1990. „Estimating Incumbency Advantage without Bias“.AmericanJournalofPoliticalScience34(4):1142–64.

Jacobson,GaryC.1978.„TheEffectsofCampaignSpendinginCongressionalElections“.AmericanPoliticalScienceReview72(2):469–491.

Jacobson,GaryC.1990.„TheEffectsofCampaignSpendinginHouseElections:NewEvidenceforOldArguments“.AmericanJournalofPoliticalScience34:334–62.

Karvonen,Lauri.2004.„PreferentialVoting:IncidenceandEffects“.InternationalPoliticalScienceReview25(2):203–26.

Katz, Richard S. 1986. „Intraparty Preference Voting“. In Electoral Laws and their PoliticalConsequences,eds.BernardGrofmanandArendLijphart.NewYork:AgathonPress,85–103.

———.1997.DemocracyandElections.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress.

Lau,RichardR., Lee Sigelman, and IvyBrownRovner. 2007. „TheEffects ofNegativePoliticalCampaigns:AMeta‐AnalyticReassessment“.JournalofPolitics69(4):1176–1209.

Lutz,Georg.2010.„FirstCome,FirstServed:TheEffectofBallotPositiononElectoralSuccessinOpenBallotPrElections“.Representation46(2):167–81.

Maddens,Bart,undGert‐JanPut.2013.„OfficeEffectsandCampaignSpendinginaSemi‐OpenListPRSystem:TheBelgian/FlemishFederalandRegionalElections1999–2010“.ElectoralStudies32(4):852–63.

Maddens,Bart,BramWauters,JoNoppe,andStefaanFiers.2006.„EffectsofCampaignSpendinginanOpenListPRSystem:The2003LegislativeElections inFlanders/Belgium“.WestEuropeanPolitics29(1):161–68.

Mansbridge, Jane. 1999. „Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women? AContingent“Yes”“.TheJournalofPolitics61(3):628–657.

Marsh,Michael.2007.„CandidatesorParties?ObjectsofElectoralChoiceinIreland“.PartyPolitics13(4):500–527.

Moon,Woojin. 2006. „The Paradox of Less Effective Incumbent Spending: Theory and Tests“.BritishJournalofPoliticalScience36(4):705–21.

Page 21: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

Moons,WesleyG.,DianeM.Mackie,andTeresaGarcia‐Marques.2009.„TheImpactofRepetition‐Induced Familiarity on Agreement with Weak and Strong Arguments“. Journal ofPersonalityandSocialPsychology96(1):32–44.

Moser,RobertG.,andEthanScheiner.2005.„StrategicTicketSplittingandthePersonalVoteinMixed‐MemberElectoralSystems“.LegislativeStudiesQuarterly30(2):259–76.

Niemetz, Heinz. 1977. „Die Wahl des schweizerischen Nationalrates vom 26. Oktober 1975“.ZeitschriftfürParlamentsfragen8(3):292–303.

OSCE. 2012. Federal Assembly Elections 23 October 2013: Election AssessmentMission Report.Warsaw:ODIHR,OfficeforDemocraticInsitutionsandHumanRights,OSCE.

Put,Gert‐Jan,undBartMaddens.2015.„TheEffectofMunicipalitySizeandLocalOfficeontheElectoral Success of Belgian/Flemish Election Candidates: A Multilevel Analysis“.GovernmentandOpposition50(4):607–628.

Samuels,David.2001.„Money,Elections,andDemocracyinBrazil“.LatinAmericanPoliticsandSociety43(2):27–48.

Sartori, Giovanni. 1976. Parties and Party Systems: Volume 1: A Framework for Analysis. CUPArchive.

Selb,Peter,andGeorgLutz.2015.„LoneFighters:IntrapartyCompetition,InterpartyCompetition,andCandidates’VoteSeekingEfforts inOpen‐BallotPRElections“.ElectoralStudies39:329–37.

Selects. 2012. Befragung der Wählerinnen und Wähler nach den Wahlen ‐ 2011 [Dataset].Lausanne:FORS.

Shugart,MatthewSøberg,MelodyEllisValdini, andKati Suominen. 2005. „Looking for Locals:Voter InformationDemandsandPersonalVote‐EarningAttributesofLegislatorsunderProportionalRepresentation“.AmericanJournalofPoliticalScience49(2):437–49.

Spierings, Niels, and Kristof Jacobs. 2014. „Getting Personal? The Impact of Social Media onPreferentialVoting“.PoliticalBehavior36(1):215–34.

Steenbergen, Marco R. 2010. „Decomposing the Vote: Individual, Communal, and CantonalSourcesofVotingBehaviorinSwitzerland“.SwissPoliticalScienceReview16(3):403–424.

Swindle, Stephen M. 2002. „The Supply and Demand of the Personal Vote TheoreticalConsiderations and Empirical Implications of Collective Electoral Incentives“. PartyPolitics8(3):279–300.

Tavits,Margit.2010.„EffectofLocalTiesOnElectoralSuccessandParliamentaryBehaviourTheCaseofEstonia“.PartyPolitics16(2):215–35.

Wauters, Bram, Karolien Weekers, and Bart Maddens. 2010. „Explaining the Number ofPreferentialVotesforWomeninanOpen‐ListPRSystem:AnInvestigationofthe2003FederalElectionsinFlanders(Belgium)“.ActaPolitica45(4):468–90.

Zajonc,RobertB.1968.„AttitudinalEffectsofMereExposure“.JournalofPersonalityandSocialPsychology9(2):1–27.

Page 22: Cherry Picking 2015 Swiss Federal Elections: The Influence of on …¼hlmann et al.pdf · 2017. 10. 11. · Abstract Our contribution analyses the influence of electoral campaigning

Zittel,Thomas,andThomasGschwend.2008.„IndividualisedConstituencyCampaignsinMixed‐Member Electoral Systems: Candidates in the 2005GermanElections“.WestEuropeanPolitics31(5):978–1003.