16:50 - 18:30
P5
Room: Terrace 2A
Panel Session 5
Matt Golder, Sona Golder - Evaluating Claims of Intersectionality
Stefanie Reher - Framing Disability: Voter Evaluations of Candidate Self-Presentations in Election Campaigns
Malu Gatto - The Presidenta Effect: Perceptions of Women in Politics in Post-impeachment Brazil
Roman-Gabriel Olar - Voting for democracy? A conjoint experiment on the effect of candidates’ autocratic past on voter preferences
Voting for democracy? A conjoint experiment on the effect of candidates’ autocratic past on voter preferences
P5-04
Presented by: Roman-Gabriel Olar
Roman-Gabriel Olar
Dublin City University
When do voters choose candidates that were part of an autocratic regime? How does their autocratic past influence voters’ choices and perception? While there is a vast literature on the effects of candidates’ background on voters’ choices and preferences, there has been very little attention paid to these factors in new democracies. This lack of evidence has important implications for our understanding of the role that elites and citizens play in democratic consolidation and survival. Against this background, this pre-analysis develops and aims to test novel theoretical propositions on the effect of political candidates’ autocratic background on voters’ choices and preferences. Using a forced-choice conjoint experiment to be run in countries that have recently democratized (Tunisia, Ukraine and Moldova), this project aims to examine how candidates’ autocratic past affects voters perception of candidates’ commitment to democracy, suitability for office and likelihood of voting. Also, it aims to unpack how voters’ own commitment to democracy shapes their choices and perceptions of the candidates.