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A valence issue is an issue where there is a broad amount of consensus among voters. As valence issues are representative of a goal or quality, voters use valence issues to evaluate a political party’s effectiveness in producing this particular goal or quality. The valence issue concept is a way of theorizing about how
voters Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holder ...
are motivated to vote for competing parties in an
election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
. The concept was developed by Donald Stokes’s critique of voting behavior theories which Stokes foresaw as being too confined to ideas about a voter’s rationality and ideological impulses, as with spatial models of party competition. Since Stokes noticed during an overview of historical U.S elections that voters sometimes were not be bound by self-interest or ideology. Valence issues can be contrasted and opposed to position issues, as position issues are organised by a voter’s ideology and their inclination for a selection of competing interests, rather than organised by the feelings of consensus found within valence issues. As valence issues can shape the outcome of an election and therefore a future government, voters and politicians both adjust their behavior according to valence issues.


History of the concept

The valence issue concept originates from Donald Stokes’s critical review of Anthony Downs’s theory of voting behavior which analogues
supply and demand In microeconomics, supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a market. It postulates that, holding all else equal, in a competitive market, the unit price for a particular good, or other traded item such as labo ...
market logic. Downs concluded that voters, when determining their voting preferences, and political parties, when determining which policies to supply, made economical and rational strategic choices within an ideological space. Stokes’s main problem with Downs’s model of voting behavior was that empirical reality, specifically the most recent
U.S The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...
elections in Stokes’s time, did not fit with Downs’s theoretical assumptions. Thus, Stokes's conceptualisation of valence issues emerged from his focused critique on one of Downs’s assumptions about voters making decisions on their vote based on a set of ordered alternative policy preferences. Stokes believed this way of imagining the voter may work with position issues but not valence issues, since valence issues were political issues that competing parties could not take an alternative position on, as parties ordinarily would with position issues. In an election fought over position issues, an individual party can differentiate themselves from other competing parties by advocating different policy positions, so as to gain a greater amount of support from the voter than other rivaling parties and therefore win the election. For example, three competing parties may altogether each present to voters separate ideas about the degree of economic intervention, all with the aim to find and attract the most electoral support. However, valences issues offer minimal room for parties to form alternative stances on, as voters are all seemingly in agreement about a particular stance. The valence issue of corruption highlights Stokes’s belief in voters having a broad consensus of preferences on certain issues. In an election where corruption becomes an important issue there would not be one party which was pro-corruption and a rivaling party which was anti-corruption. Instead, both parties would oppose corruption and it would be up to voters to decide which party would be best at bringing about an end to corruption. Therefore, valence issues are issues that are used by voters to evaluate a parties competence based on whether the party can most effectively bring about a goal or quality embodied by the valence issue, or, whether the party is to blame or should be credited with a past or present good or condition that is representative of the valence issue. Since Stokes established the valence issue concept it has been applied to polities beyond the U.S. Whereas the original interpretation of the concept was founded on observations Stokes made when reviewing American elections in the thirties and
forties Forties can mean: *1940s, the years 1940–1949 *40s, the years 40-49 AD *The years 40-49 of any century - see List of decades *Long Forties, area in the North Sea *The Forties shipping forecast area (roughly corresponding to the Long Forties) *Fo ...
; in which Stokes identified economic recovery as a valences issue, the US elections of
1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh ...
; where Stokes recognized the Korean war and corruption as two valence issues, and the
1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...
and
1960 It is also known as the " Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * J ...
election; which Stokes’s sees as dominated by the valence issue of U.S foreign policy.


Position issues

Position issues are an alternative to valence issues, as position issues create disagreement among voters because a broad consensus on the issue is lacking. Since position issues are divisive issues they consequently separate potential voters into distinct voting blocs that may support or oppose a way of dealing with the position issue at hand. Politicians and parties therefore have some maneuverability, policy wise they can arrange themselves more freely than when faced with a valence issue, as they can take a stance on a position issue according to a distinct voter bloc in order to collect voters who are mobilised by this politician's particular position issue perspective. This description of position issues does not mean that valence issues are only about a consensus among voters, instead for positional issues it is also a question of whether the voter decided to support a party based on their ideological position. Accordingly, in a scenario where voters or parties have a weak or insufficiently pronounced ideological alignment valence issues are likely to dominate an election rather than position issues. Highlighting a comparison between valence issues and positional issues also does not mean that issues can only belong In those two categories, as both issue types may sometimes lurk behind one another or overlap, or, the issue at question may even transform from a position issue into a valance issue. Another way of thinking about the position issue versus valence issue dichotomy is to see voters as taking into account both position and valence issues when voting, as Egan has.


Impact of valence issues on voters and politicians


Voters

When voters assess parties and politicians based on issue valence they learn about how parties and politicians relate to the issue in question over time. Therefore, it is hard for parties and politicians to change a voter’s long-standing perception about their own valence issue history. Furthermore, voters often equivocate parties with a single politician’s issue valence. However, when a parties valence issue history is not clear, for instance, when there is an election with a new or challenger party, then the voter is likely to make a decision based on position issues. A major crisis or political event is another way voters formulate lasting impressions about valence issues. In this instance the way a party addresses the crisis gives voters concerned with a valence issue that represents the crisis an idea of how competent parties are at handling this particular spotlighted valence issue. Other scholars have asserted that valence issues only matter to a specific kind of voter, these voters are non-ideological and only make their vote choices based on valence issues.


Parties and politicians

In an election purely focused on valence issues the candidate that is able to adopt the valence issue and demonstrate their competence at handling the issue wins. in such an election parties try to indicate to voters that they are better at realising a valence issue when compared to other parties via communicating their grasp of a valence issue during the election campaign. Yet unlike position issues politicians and parties have limited control over there command of a valence issue, especially when the valence issue concerns a politicians ascriptive characteristics. However, parties can try to overcome their poor reputation on a valence issue by steering the election campaign towards a battle over views on position issues and making a stance which is in line with the average voter’s attitude on that particular position issue. There are also other forms of electoral strategies concerning the interaction of valence issues and position issues beyond this specific example. For instance, some candidates may deliberately adopt a position issue that resembles the position issue of an opponent to accentuate their competence with a valence issue, thereby giving this candidate a valence issue advantage. The valence issue reputation of a party is not static, as parties with competence on a particular valence issue can suffer once in power, since when these politicians in government there is a closer scrutiny of the governing party and there are opportunities for governing parties to make errors on valence issues. Additionally, once in government voters have an opportunity to reevaluate their ideas about a parties competence on valence issues based on real performance and therefore vote retrospectively.


Examples of valence issues

In a study of campaigns for the
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, candidates focused upon valence issues in 77% of their advertising. In the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
, valence issues may include
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care of the elderly Elderly care, or simply eldercare (also known in parts of the English-speaking world as aged care), serves the needs and requirements of senior citizens. It encompasses assisted living, adult daycare, long-term care, nursing homes (often called ...
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crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...
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daycare Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...
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economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with t ...
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education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. ...
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inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
, and jobs. To contrast, position issues in the United States include
abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
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civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...
, congressional pay, death penalty,
drugs A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...
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foreign aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. ...
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environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
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gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with onl ...
, healthcare,
nuclear proliferation Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information to nations not recognized as "Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weap ...
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school prayer School prayer, in the context of religious liberty, is state-sanctioned or mandatory prayer by students in public schools. Depending on the country and the type of school, state-sponsored prayer may be required, permitted, or prohibited. Countries ...
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taxes A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...
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term limits A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential ...
.


References

{{reflist Political science