Issue competition in the 1993 Norwegian national election

Abstract

We investigate the role of issues in the 1993 Norwegian election. We are interested in comparing two spatial models of issue evaluation, the directional model and the familiar proximity model. The directional model implies that voters ask two questions of parties: Are you on my side? and Can I trust you to be responsible? This contrasts with the classic proximity question: How close are your positions to mine?

Prior analysis of Norwegian voters has favored the directional model. The empirical story in 1993, however, features a traditional centrist party, the agrarian Center Party, running quite strongly, which on the surface, at least, challenges the directional model, and presents an interesting case to observe. We also extend our analysis to examine more generally the impact of issues on the election. This unrestricted analysis adds texture to our understanding of the role of issues, while its results dovetail with the analysis of the specific models. When people evaluated parties on the basis of issues in Norway in 1993, the directional model describes that dynamic well.

We are grateful to Roar Håskjold for research assistance, and to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and the Arts and Sciences Foundation of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for financial support. The 1993 Norwegian National Election Study, directed by Berra Aardal and Henry Valen, was made available by the Norwegian Social Science Data Services. Neither the principal investigators nor the archive bear any responsibility for our interpretation of the data.