The importance of attachment to an ideological group in multi-party systems: Evidence from Israel

Odelia Oshri*, Omer Yair, Leonie Huddy

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this research, we examine the role of attachment to an ideological group as a source of stability in a volatile multi-party system. In two studies conducted in Israel (N = 1320), we show that a multi-item Attachment to an Ideological Group (AIG) scale is strongly tied to vote choice and political engagement, and its effects are independent of, and more powerful than, issue-based ideology and partisan identity strength. Compared to individuals with a weak ideological attachment, those who score highly on the AIG scale are more likely to vote for a party from their ideological camp and participate in politics. Moreover, in two survey experiments, respondents high in AIG displayed stronger anger or enthusiasm—known harbingers of political action—in response to threat or reassurance to their ideological group’s status, attesting to a link between AIG and political engagement. Our findings underscore the importance of ideological group attachments in a volatile multi-party system.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)1164-1175
Number of pages12
JournalParty Politics
Volume28
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We wish to thank Matthew Graham, Alon Yakter, Michael Freedman, Guy Grossman, Raanan Sulitzeanu-Kenan and Shaul Shenhav for helpful comments. Earlier versions of this article were presented at the 2019 annual meetings of the Israeli Political Science Association and the International Society of Political Psychology. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by a grant from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF Grant 751/18 allotted to the first author).

Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by a grant from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF Grant 751/18 allotted to the first author).

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.

Keywords

  • Ideology
  • Israel
  • ideological identity
  • multi-party system
  • survey experiment

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