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Keywords:

Social Sciences, Science & Technology, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary, Statistics & Probability, Social Sciences - Other Topics, Mathematics, 0104 Statistics, 1608 Sociology, 1701 Psychology, Social Sciences Methods, 4410 Sociology, 4905 Statistics

Abstract:

For the municipal elections the crucial variables seem to be the "age" of thevoters, although "sex" plays a significant role in the first period (1976-1979).In that period the movers can be characterized as being men and voters olderthan 35 years. The stayers are women and voters of 35 years or younger. Inthe second period (1979-1982) the "sex" of the voters no longer plays asignificant role. The only association is the relationship between "votingbehaviour" and "age". However, in contrast to the first period, the moversare the "35 or younger" voters. In the light of the findings of the first part of this study we offer thefollowing possible hypothesis: between 1976 and 1979, "the older than 35"voters, and men in particular, moved from F.R.S. to A.D. In the followingelectoral period, however, between 1979 and 1982, the "35 years or younger"left A.D. and F.R.S. for A.P.U. and the blank/abstention option. The national elections (1979-1980) followed the same pattern as themunicipal elections. Once again it was the voters "35 years or younger"and the "men" who were the movers. What is more, however, the votingbehaviour of men and women conflicts sharply and is age-related. Women"older than 35" and men "35 and younger" were the voters most likely tomove. Once again in the light of the analysis carried out in the first part ofthis study, but now applied to the shift in the national elections, a possiblehypothesis is as follows: the 'men' who are "35 or younger" moved to P.C.and the blank/abstention option, while the "women" "older than 35"moved to A.D. Both came from the P.S. A surprising point to emerge fromthis analysis is the fact that socioeconomic variables such as "housingcondition" and "professional level" do not play a significant role in explain-ing the electoral shift, either at the national or the municipal levels. Alsocontrary to what is generally supposed, professional level did not affect shiftin voters' preferences between two elections. © 1987 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers (Kluwer).