Economic voting in Britain, 1857-1914

TY - JOUR

T1 - Economic voting in Britain, 1857-1914

AU - Hodgson, Robert

AU - Maloney, John

PY - 2012/12

Y1 - 2012/12

N2 - Despite limited government control over the pre-1914 economy, opposition politicians were enthusiastic in blaming bad economic news on the incumbent. In a study of 458 by-elections between 1857 and 1914, we find that voters typically gave new governments a 'honeymoon' but thereafter held them responsible for high unemployment and high prices. Each 1% rise in the price level, on average, brought about a 0.21% swing against the government of the day, while each one-point rise in the percentage unemployed had double this effect. However, when we split the electorate into borough and county constituencies, economic voting appears to be confined to the former.

AB - Despite limited government control over the pre-1914 economy, opposition politicians were enthusiastic in blaming bad economic news on the incumbent. In a study of 458 by-elections between 1857 and 1914, we find that voters typically gave new governments a 'honeymoon' but thereafter held them responsible for high unemployment and high prices. Each 1% rise in the price level, on average, brought about a 0.21% swing against the government of the day, while each one-point rise in the percentage unemployed had double this effect. However, when we split the electorate into borough and county constituencies, economic voting appears to be confined to the former.

KW - Britain

KW - Elections

KW - Prices

KW - Unemployment

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84867096333&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.electstud.2012.07.006

DO - 10.1016/j.electstud.2012.07.006

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84867096333

SN - 0261-3794

VL - 31

SP - 668

EP - 678

JO - Electoral Studies

JF - Electoral Studies

IS - 4

ER -