Issues, the Spatial Theory of Voting, and British General Elections: A Comparison of Proximity and Directional Models

Competing spatial models of voter choice are compared in the context of parliamentary representatives selected through single-member district, plurality elections where party platforms are emphasized over individual candidates. Respondents of the 1987, 1992, and 1997 British general election surveys rate political parties on a series of issue scales. Ordered logistic regressions of party evaluations under proximity, directional, and mixed models reveal that the classic spatial model and the directional model perform equally well. Differences center on perceptions of the status quo, as voters appear to evaluate the incumbent party (here, the Conservatives) slightly differently than minority parties (Labour and the Liberal Democrats). The proximity model works better for voter evaluations of governing parties while the directional model works well for opposition parties.