The Implications of Social Context Partisan Homogeneity for Voting Behaviour: Survey Evidence from South Africa

dc.contributor.authorHerzenberg, Collette Schulz
dc.date.accessioned2016-05-04T08:44:40Z
dc.date.available2016-05-04T08:44:40Z
dc.date.issued2013
dc.date.updated2016-05-04T08:33:35Z
dc.description.abstractDue to the legacy of apartheid segregation South Africa remains a highly divided society where most voters live in politically homogenous social environments. This paper argues that political discussion within one’s social context plays a primary role in shaping political attitudes and vote choice in South Africa. Specifically, the extent of partisan homogeneity or heterogeneity within one’s social context has important, yet distinct implications for voting behaviour. Using data from the Comparative National Elections Project 2004 and 2009 South African post-election surveys, the paper explores the extent of social context partisan homogeneity in South Africa and finds that voters are not overly embedded in homogenous social contexts. The paper then demonstrates the consequences of partisan homogeneity on voting behavior. Homogenous social contexts tend to encourage stronger partisan loyalties and fewer defections in vote choice while people in more heterogeneous contexts show less consistency in their attitudes and behaviour during elections. Finally, the analysis shows how momentous socio-political events at the time of a particular election can change the nature of social contexts, with important consequences for electoral outcomes.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationHerzenberg, C. S. (2013). <i>The Implications of Social Context Partisan Homogeneity for Voting Behaviour: Survey Evidence from South Africa</i> University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Social Science Research(CSSR). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19388en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationHerzenberg, Collette Schulz <i>The Implications of Social Context Partisan Homogeneity for Voting Behaviour: Survey Evidence from South Africa.</i> University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Social Science Research(CSSR), 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19388en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationSchulz-Herzenberg, C. (2013, August). The Implications of Social Context Partisan Homogeneity for Voting Behavior: Survey Evidence from South Africa. In Proceedings of World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology (No. 80, p. 251). World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology (WASET).en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Working Paper AU - Herzenberg, Collette Schulz AB - Due to the legacy of apartheid segregation South Africa remains a highly divided society where most voters live in politically homogenous social environments. This paper argues that political discussion within one’s social context plays a primary role in shaping political attitudes and vote choice in South Africa. Specifically, the extent of partisan homogeneity or heterogeneity within one’s social context has important, yet distinct implications for voting behaviour. Using data from the Comparative National Elections Project 2004 and 2009 South African post-election surveys, the paper explores the extent of social context partisan homogeneity in South Africa and finds that voters are not overly embedded in homogenous social contexts. The paper then demonstrates the consequences of partisan homogeneity on voting behavior. Homogenous social contexts tend to encourage stronger partisan loyalties and fewer defections in vote choice while people in more heterogeneous contexts show less consistency in their attitudes and behaviour during elections. Finally, the analysis shows how momentous socio-political events at the time of a particular election can change the nature of social contexts, with important consequences for electoral outcomes. DA - 2013 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2013 T1 - The Implications of Social Context Partisan Homogeneity for Voting Behaviour: Survey Evidence from South Africa TI - The Implications of Social Context Partisan Homogeneity for Voting Behaviour: Survey Evidence from South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19388 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/19388
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationHerzenberg CS. The Implications of Social Context Partisan Homogeneity for Voting Behaviour: Survey Evidence from South Africa. 2013 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19388en_ZA
dc.languageengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentCentre for Social Science Research(CSSR)en_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/en_ZA
dc.titleThe Implications of Social Context Partisan Homogeneity for Voting Behaviour: Survey Evidence from South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeWorking Paperen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceResearch paperen_ZA
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Herzenberg_Implications_Social_2013.pdf
Size:
671.43 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.72 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Collections