Ideology and party choice: do party system and regime properties make a difference?

Much recent work has focused on value or ideological orientations in order to explain party choice (van der Eijk et al. 2005). Among the indicators used, the left-right (L-R) scale, widely considered as a shorthand device encompassing the most salient political attitudes (Mair 2007), has been the most prominent. However, it has been argued that the content and the meaning of the L-R scale varies across countries and time (Aarts & Thomassen 2008, Benoit & Laver 2006, Huber & Inglehart 1995). We take such findings as our departure point and examine the extent to which properties of party systems (such as polarization and fragmentation) and regimes (such as competitiveness and regulation of participation) relate to the explanatory power of L-R ideology on party choice. To examine this, we use data from the CSES modules, Polity IV and indices calculated from election results.