Programmatic change

Abstract

Abstract This chapter analyses the relationship between candidate change and programmatic change. Party manifestos and programmatic positions are essential features of electoral competition and have been widely studied. Changes in party policy positions have previously been linked to leadership change and changing electoral fortunes, but not to the change among candidates. To measure policy change, this chapter uses two authoritative data sets with time-series data on party policy: the Manifesto Database (MARPOR) and the Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES). Previous studies have cautioned against the use of traditional ready-made aggregate indices such as left–right or GAL–TAN in Central and Eastern Europe and, therefore, this chapter proposes new measures accounting for changes in a wide range of policies. The results suggest a link between policy change (especially when considering Ü, an index based on MARPOR) and candidate turnover, which is corroborated by the finding that programmatic congruence tends to reflect candidate congruence after fission and fusion.