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How are political parties rational actors?

Disapproval voting

Von Neumann–Morgenstern utility theorem

Cardinal voting systems

Single transferable vote

Expected utility hypothesis

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Political parties can be considered rational actors in the political system. They strategically adapt to new electoral systems based on their organizational and electoral strength . Parties aim to maximize their vote share by employing candidate and vote management strategies . Rationality in political parties is defined as individuals maximizing their expected utility given their acts, which can explain important political phenomena . Parties also manipulate the perception of their competences among constituencies, reflecting voters' preferences and influencing their choices . Moreover, parties develop partisan voting tendencies, even without explicit ideologies, as citizens reward good performance by incumbents and punish bad performance . Overall, political parties act strategically, adapt to changing circumstances, and aim to maximize their electoral success.

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Book Chapter•DOI Rational Parties and Retrospective Voters Jonathan Bendor, Sunil Kumar, David A. Siegel - Show less +2 more 25 May 2007 2 Citations	The paper discusses how rational, office-seeking parties behave when facing retrospective voters, but it does not explicitly explain how political parties are rational actors.
Journal Article•DOI Political Participation, Rational Actors, and Rationality: A New Approach Carole Jean Uhlaner 01 Sep 1986-Political Psychology 50 Citations	The paper does not specifically discuss political parties as rational actors. The paper focuses on the rational actor theory of participation, which includes candidates, leaders, and voters as rational actors.
Journal Article•DOI What Rational Political Actors Can Expect Robert Grafstein 01 Apr 2002-Journal of Theoretical Politics 19 Citations	The provided paper does not directly address the rationality of political parties.
Journal Article•DOI Strategic Actors or Muddling Through? Political Parties, Local Campaigning and the Single Transferable Vote Alistair Clark, Lynn Bennie - Show less +1 more 04 Nov 2008-Representation 8 Citations	The paper does not explicitly discuss how political parties are rational actors.
Open access•Journal Article Essays on Political Actors and Attitudes: Do They Constitute Distributed Reflexivity?Part 2: A Dynamical Typology of Rationality Martin Neumann, Armano Srbljinović - Show less +1 more 01 Jan 2013-European Quarterly of Political Attitudes and Mentalities 5 Citations	The paper does not directly address how political parties are rational actors.

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Related Questions

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