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Voting behaviour - Theories of voting - Dominant-ideology model

4 important questions on Voting behaviour - Theories of voting - Dominant-ideology model

What is dominant-ideology model?

Here is believed that individual choices are shaped by a process of ideological manipulation and control

How are individual choices shaped in the dominant-ideology model?

Through a process of manipulation and control.

How does the dominant-ideology model resemble the sociological model and how does it differ from it.

They resemble each other in that the voting seems to reflect a person's position in the social hierarchy.

Where the theories differ from the sociological model, however, is in emphasizing that how groups and individuals interpret their position depends on how it has been presented to them through education, the media etc.

How does the media play a role in the dominant-ideology model?

The media are able to distort the flow of political communications (setting the agenda for debate etc). The consequence is that if voters' attitudes follow the belief of the dominant ideology, parties will not be able to afford to develop policies that fall outside that ideology.
The electoral process tends to uphold the existing distribution of power instead of challenging it.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

Politics | 9781352005462 | Andrew Heywood

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