Detecting Voter Understanding of Ideological Labels Using a Conjoint Experiment
Detecting Voter Understanding of Ideological Labels Using a Conjoint Experiment
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使用联合实验检测选民对意识形态标签的理解
DOI：
10.1007/s11109-021-09719-5
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发表时间：
2021
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
Taniguchi Masaki
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Miwa Hirofumi;Arami Reiko;Taniguchi Masaki
了解选民对意识形态标签的概念是政治行为研究的关键。传统的研究设计有几个局限性，如内隐性，对开放式问题的回答不足，以及复合治疗效果的不可分割性。为了应对这些挑战，我们提出了一个联合实验，研究的含义归因于意识形态标签的政策立场。我们还建议使用混合模型的方法来探索异质性选民的理解意识形态标签，以及标签的平均解释。我们将这些方法应用于日本的左右标签概念，与其他发达国家相比，日本的主要问题是精英阶层的冲突。我们发现，日本选民在理解“左”和“右”的政策含义时，通常把这些标签与安全和民族主义联系在一起，其次是与社会问题联系在一起，而不是与经济问题联系在一起。选民的理解在一定程度上取决于他们的出生群体，但观察到的模式并不一定与许多研究人员预测的日本政治的代际差异一致。混合模型的结果表明，一些人倾向于将左右标签与安全和民族主义政策联系起来，而另一些人则将其与社会政策联系起来。超过三分之一的受访者似乎几乎不理解在政策立场中使用左右标签。我们的研究改进了现有的方法来衡量选民对意识形态标签的理解，并再次确认了与左右标签相关的含义的全球多样性。
Understanding voters’ conception of ideological labels is critical for political behavioral research. Conventional research designs have several limitations, such as endogeneity, insufficient responses to open-ended questions, and inseparability of composite treatment effects. To address these challenges, we propose a conjoint experiment to study the meanings ascribed to ideological labels in terms of policy positions. We also suggest using a mixture model approach to explore heterogeneity in voters’ understandings of ideological labels, as well as the average interpretation of labels. We applied these approaches to conceptions of left–right labels in Japan, where the primary issue of elite-level conflicts has been distinctive compared with other developed countries. We found that, on average, while Japanese voters understand policy-related meanings of “left” and “right,” they primarily associate these labels with security and nationalism, and, secondarily, with social issues; they do not associate these labels with economic issues. Voters’ understandings partly depend on their birth cohort, but observed patterns do not necessarily coincide with what many researchers would predict regarding generational differences in Japanese politics. Mixture model results suggest that some individuals tend to associate left–right labels with security and nationalism policies, while others link them to social policies. Over one-third of respondents seemed to barely understand the usage of left–right labels in policy positions. Our study improves upon existing methods for measuring voter understanding of ideological labels, and reconfirm the global diversity of meanings associated with left–right labels.