Multi-Level Governance

The existing framework for explaining variation in voter turnout and vote choice across multiple levels of government is more useful for addressing aggregate patterns than for addressing micro-level behaviour. To better understand the aggregate outcomes of interest, this chapter proposes an examination of individual voter behaviour and strategies of party elites that take account of the incentives provided by multiple electoral arenas. In doing so, the chapter investigates the variation in both party and voter behaviour that is often overlooked in existing work. In the presence of multiple electoral arenas, the behaviour of both party elites and voters in one arena is affected by what happens in another. The decisions of party elites and voters are shaped by the incentive structure that is produced by the combination of multiple arenas with different electoral rules.