Bridging the economic and behavioralist accounts of attitude formation, this article argues that behavioral models can help us predict who is more likely to update their policy preferences in line with their economic interest and when this is more likely to be the case. Using evidence from Britain and Germany, we show that material interest nudges individuals toward preferences more in line with their material conditions. The size of this nudging effect varies with the political discursive context: it is larger when left-wing economic policies are on the table as a visible policy option put forward by parties and interest groups. We test these predictions using longitidinal data from Great Britain and Germany, two countries with contrasting experiences regarding the prevalence of left-wing economic policy options in partisan elite debates.
Presented by:
Anja Neundorf (University of Nottingham)
Date & time:
March 4, 2015 1:00 pm - March 4, 2015 2:00 pm
Venue:
Large Seminar Room (2N2.4.16)
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