Partisan heart and/or rational mind? Party identification, political knowledge and electoral turnout

Abstract

This paper aims at analysing the relationship between positive and negative party identification and political knowledge, as well as their interplay in regard to electoral turnout. The data from the Serbian 2012 post-election public opinion survey on the nationally representative probability-based sample of voting age citizens were used (N = 1568). The data show that political knowledge is significantly and positively correlated both with positive and negative party identification. Citizens who are more knowledgeable and positively identified are also more likely to vote. However, it is shown that the influence of political knowledge on electoral turnout is moderated only by positive party identification. Political knowledge significantly predicts turnout only in the group of citizens without positive party identification. Being negatively identified with a political party does not modify the relationship between political knowledge and turnout. The results are discussed in terms of the Michigan model of party identification and cognitive mobilisation thesis. The roles of affective and cognitive motivation in electoral participation are additionally stressed and debated.