Split Ticket Voting and Social Networks in New and Established Democracies: A Quasi-Experiment in the 1990 German Unification Elections

Social Networks, Predispositions and Split-Ticket Voting: The Case of the 1990 German Unification Election

Political Studies ◽

10.1177/0032321718761177 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 67 (1) ◽

pp. 171-190

Author(s):

Debra Leiter

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

German Unification ◽

Network Characteristics ◽

Democratic Experience ◽

Party Attachment ◽

New Democracy ◽

Established Democracies ◽

Political Decision Making ◽

Cross National

When casting a split-ticket ballot, voters in established democracies have strong political predispositions and electoral experience that influence their decision. However, voters in a new democracy, lacking long-term party attachment and experience with democracy, may instead be informed and motivated by their social networks. Using the 1990 Cross-National Election Project German Unification study, I examine which factors predict split-ticket voting for East and West Germans. I find that political disagreement within a social network is more influential for East Germans, while partisan predispositions, particularly party supporter type, play a greater role for West Germans. These findings indicate that, in absence of competition between long-term partisanship and democratic experience, network characteristics may have a profound impact on political decision-making.

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Social Networks and the Targeting of Vote Buying

Comparative Political Studies ◽

10.1177/0010414018784062 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 52 (3) ◽

pp. 382-411 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Cesi Cruz

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

The Philippines ◽

New Democracies ◽

Vote Buying ◽

Family Ties ◽

Political Cooperation ◽

The Social ◽

Electoral Strategies ◽

Established Democracies ◽

Buying In

The social networks of voters have been shown to facilitate political cooperation and information transmission in established democracies. These same social networks, however, can also make it easier for politicians in new democracies to engage in clientelistic electoral strategies. Using survey data from the Philippines, this article demonstrates that individuals with more friend and family ties are disproportionately targeted for vote buying. This is consistent with the importance of other social factors identified in the literature such as reciprocity, direct ties to politicians, and individual social influence. In addition, this article presents evidence supporting an additional mechanism linking voter social networks to the targeting of vote buying: social network–based monitoring. Voters with larger networks are both more sensitive to the ramifications of reneging on vote buying agreements and are primarily targeted for vote buying in contexts where monitoring is necessary.

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Reemerged Small-Business Capitalism: The East German Transition Reviewed

German Politics & Society ◽

10.3167/104503000782486525 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 94-118

Author(s):

Katharina Bluhm

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Planning System ◽

German Unification ◽

Top Down ◽

German State ◽

East German ◽

Centralized Planning ◽

Enterprise Transformation ◽

Central Actor

Research on the enterprise transformation in East Germany after unification has focused mostly on the role of the Treuhandanstalt as the central actor in this process who widely determined its outcomes. David Stark and László Bruszt (1998) even suggest that this top-down model of transformation was rooted in the special institutional past of East German state socialism. They argue that the “Weberian home-land” was characterized by weak social networks among firms in comparison, for example, with firms in Hungary or Czechoslovakia, while the planning system and the industrial organization were extraordinarily centralized and hierarchical. Hence, social networks could easily be destroyed after German unification by market shock and by breaking up large enterprises into manageable pieces by the Treuhandanstalt. Moreover, the former, intact centralized planning system could easily be replaced by another centralized and cohesive administrative apparatus, now backed by the strong West German state.

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Social Networks in the Brazilian Electorate

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190228217.013.37 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Barry Ames ◽

Andy Baker ◽

Amy Erica Smith

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Voting Behavior ◽

Network Effects ◽

Panel Study ◽

The United States ◽

Political Discussion ◽

Data Sets ◽

Design Elements ◽

Partisan Identification ◽

Established Democracies

Research on social networks and voting behavior has been largely limited to long-established democracies. In young democracies with unstable party systems and low levels of mass partisan identification, such networks should be even more important. This chapter examines egocentric political discussion networks in Brazil, where political discussion is plentiful and exposure to disagreement is somewhat more frequent than in the United States. Over the course of campaigns, such conversation affects voting choices and helps citizens learn about candidates and their issue positions; networks are especially important for learning among low-status individuals. The chapter highlights the availability of two important panel data sets incorporating design elements that can improve inference regarding network effects: the 2002–2006 Two-City Brazilian Panel Study and the 2014 Brazilian Electoral Panel Survey.

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Social Network Effects in Developing Countries

The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Persuasion ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190860806.013.20 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 644-667

Author(s):

Cesi Cruz ◽

Horacio Larreguy ◽

John Marshall

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Developing Countries ◽

Social Network ◽

Information Diffusion ◽

Network Effects ◽

Political Engagement ◽

Extensive Literature ◽

Established Democracies ◽

Social Network Effects ◽

Social Persuasion

How do social networks influence and moderate electoral persuasion in developing countries? An extensive literature shows that social networks are important for understanding electoral persuasion in established democracies. At the same time, these theories might not necessarily apply to democracies in the developing world, particularly when they are characterized by clientelism, coercion, and other modes of political engagement outside of formal democratic institutions. In such contexts, networks can matter for politics in different, and sometimes unexpected, ways. In surveying the literature, this chapter dentifies three general functions of networks that are important for understanding electoral persuasion behavior in developing countries: (i) information diffusion; (ii) social persuasion; and (iii) coordination and enforcement. The chapter explores the implications of these network mechanisms by exploring the roles of both voter and politician networks.

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