Voting behaviour

• Psephology - the branch of political science that focuses on elections and voting behaviour.
• Social structures model - model of voting behaviour that emphasises the importance of long-term, primary factors, such as class, age, gender, region and ethnicity.
• Party identification model - voting model that sees votes as psychologically attached to a party, identifying with them and supporting them regardless of other factors.
• Partisan alignment - where voters strongly identify with party and loyally support them in multiple.
• Class dealignment - term that refers to the increasing breakdown of the link between class and voting behaviour.
• Partisan dealignment - term used to refer to the breakdown in the strong links that once saw voters loyally voting for the same party election after election.
• Mass media - name given to a collection of media outlets that reach a large audience through a variety of communication methods.
• Embourgeoisement - idea that, as working class people became more middle class, their political interests and voting behaviour begins to change.
• Party leadership - example of recency or short term factors
• Swing - term used to describe the movement of voters from one party to another.
• Rational choice model - voting model that argues that voters make a conscious, self-interested choice between the parties based on a variety of short-term factors.
• Dominant ideology model - model argues that voters are influenced by the ideology of powerful and wealthy elites, who shape the national debate, particularly in the media.
• voting context model - this model argues that voting behaviour varies depending on the type of election and the particular circumstances surrounding each voter at that time.
• Safe seat - a constituency in which a particular party has such strong support that they are almost guaranteed victory.
• Tactical voting - when voters decide to vote for their second choice candidate, as their first choice has little chance of defeating their least preferred candidate.
• Marginal seat - term used to describe a constituency in which the winner of the last election only narrowly beat the second place candidate.
• Abstention - Refusal to vote or to vote for a particular candidate.
• Protest voting - where voters spoil their ballot paper, submit a blank vote, or vote for a fringe/ineligible candidate to express their political dissatisfaction.
• Turnout - term used to refer to the proportion of the registered electorate who vote in an election.
• By-elections - elections to fill positions that become vacant before the next general election is due to be held.
• By-elections - elections to fill positions that become vacant before the next general election is due to be held.
• Spatial model - theory that voters will support parties with policies that are closest in proximity to their own political parties.
• Salient model - political issues that voters consider to be the most important in an election.
• Valence model - political issues where there is broad agreement on the goals the government should pursue.
• Positional issues - divisive political issues that reasonable people can take different views on.
• Valence model - the model that argues that parties will succeed if they are judged to be the most capable of delivering positive outcomes, on broadly agreed goals.
• Opinion polls - surveys conducted prior to an election asking people who they intend to vote for.
• Exit polls - surveys conducted at polling stations on election day asking people how they just voted.
• Bandwagon effect - voters chose to vote for the party that is leading in the polls.
• Boomerang effect - when voters sympathise with, and decide to vote for, a party that is not performing well in the polls.
• Socialisation - process through which individuals learn acceptable beliefs and behaviours from their family, friends, colleagues and communities.