Affective polarization and strategic voting in Britain
Abstract
Do affective attitudes determine voting behavior? As a part of this broad question, we examine how third-party supporters’ affective attitudes decide their strategic voting behavior. Using seven waves of the British Election Study (2015, 2017, and 2019), we find that third-party supporters whose affective attitudes toward the two principal political parties in their constituency are more polarized are more inclined to vote strategically. The results imply that voting behavior is shaped by both feelings toward as well as cognitive evaluations of political parties. They also imply that British voters may increasingly engage in strategic voting if the level of affective polarization continues to rise. Lastly, and more generally, the results imply that all political parties should pay attention to voter “feelings” if they are to maximize their electoral support.
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People who do not identify with either Labour or the Conservatives in the United Kingdom nonetheless have strong affectively polarized attitudes about the two dominant parties.
“Elsewhere, Down and Han (2024) show that people who do not identify with either Labour or the Conservatives in the United Kingdom do, nonetheless, have strong”
From Measuring affective polarization: Matching concepts to measures (2026) · cites this paper as Down & Han, 2024
In the United Kingdom, multiple parties exist, but two have typically been dominant: the Conservatives and Labour.
“Consider, for example, the United Kingdom, where multiple parties exist, but two have typically been dominant-the Conservatives and Labour (Down & Han, 2024).”
From Measuring affective polarization: Matching concepts to measures (2026) · cites this paper as Down & Han, 2024
A person's affect toward Labour may carry more consequences for political behavior than their affect for the Green Party, which is unlikely to win control of the government.
“A person's affect toward Labour may, in theory, carry more consequences for someone's political behavior than their affect for the Green Party, a party that is unlikely to win control of the government (Down & Han, 2024).”
From Measuring affective polarization: Matching concepts to measures (2026) · cites this paper as Down & Han, 2024
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Reducing affective polarization: Warm group relations or policy compromise?
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“…influence the views of supporters of other political parties toward itself, by cooperating with those other parties (e.g. through co-governance [Bassan-Nygate and Weiss 2022; Horne, Adams, and Gidron 2023]) or, more broadly, by forming “warm” relationships with them (Huddy and Yair 2021).”
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Measuring affective polarization: Matching concepts to measures
Druckman, J. N., Klar, S., Krupnikov, Y., Levendusky, M., & Ryan, J. B. (2026) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.70152 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Down, I., & Han, K.-J.
- Affiliations
- University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US)
- Corresponding author
- Down, Ian
- Venue
- Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2024-05-28
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 781-803
- ISSN
- 1368-9886 (ISSN-L)
- 1745-7289
- 1745-7297
- OpenAlex
- W4399134564
- Cited by
- 2
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2
- FWCI
- 3.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Elections Public Opinion and Parties (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Populism, Right-Wing Movements
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Media Influence and Politics
- Keywords
- affective polarization, strategic voting, affective attitudes, voting behavior, British elections, party evaluation, electoral support, British Election Study
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