The Electoral Influence of Party Leader Images in Australia and New Zealand

Although the electoral influence of voter attitudes toward American presidential candidates has never seriously been questioned, only in relatively recent times has the existence of an equivalent effect for political party leaders in parliamentary systems become well-accepted. This analysis seeks to extend the understanding of the nature of parliamentary leadership effects to encompass the types of specific leadership qualities that influence electoral choice. Data from open-ended questions in surveys conducted in Australia in 1979 and New Zealand in 1981, taken together with earlier research, indicate a broad similarity of voter responses to different political leaders, in parliamentary as well as presidential systems. In particular, the criteria voters take into account most consistently when making leadership-based electoral decisions are positive perceptions of the “performance relevant” qualities of competence and integrity. This is evidence against the argument that voting on the basis of leadership personality is in some sense “irrational.”