TY - JOUR
T1 - Does candidate nomination in districts increase party votes of small parties? Evidence from the 2016 Taiwan legislative elections
AU - Wang, Ching Hsing
AU - Weng, Dennis Lu Chung
AU - Wang, Vincent Wei Cheng
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Cambridge University Press.
PY - 2018/9/1
Y1 - 2018/9/1
N2 - This study addresses why small parties nominate candidates to run in the district elections and how nomination of district candidates could influence small parties' share of party votes in Taiwan. Previous studies on party's strategic entry in the mixed electoral system demonstrate the existence of 'contamination effect' in various Western democracies. While 'contamination effect' suggests that party would gain more proportional representation (PR) seats by increasing its number of candidate nomination in the single-member-district (SMD) races, we contend that small parties should also take the strength of nominated candidates into consideration. Nominating strong candidates in SMD competitions could generate positive 'spillover effect' to party's PR tier. By focusing on the 2016 Taiwan legislative election, our findings suggest that first, small parties need to fulfill the institutional requirements in order to qualify for running in the party-list election; second, the 'contamination effect' exists in Taiwan, but it is conditional; and finally, candidates' strength creates positive 'spillover effect' on party's proportional seats.
AB - This study addresses why small parties nominate candidates to run in the district elections and how nomination of district candidates could influence small parties' share of party votes in Taiwan. Previous studies on party's strategic entry in the mixed electoral system demonstrate the existence of 'contamination effect' in various Western democracies. While 'contamination effect' suggests that party would gain more proportional representation (PR) seats by increasing its number of candidate nomination in the single-member-district (SMD) races, we contend that small parties should also take the strength of nominated candidates into consideration. Nominating strong candidates in SMD competitions could generate positive 'spillover effect' to party's PR tier. By focusing on the 2016 Taiwan legislative election, our findings suggest that first, small parties need to fulfill the institutional requirements in order to qualify for running in the party-list election; second, the 'contamination effect' exists in Taiwan, but it is conditional; and finally, candidates' strength creates positive 'spillover effect' on party's proportional seats.
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U2 - 10.1017/S1468109918000129
DO - 10.1017/S1468109918000129
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85049961654
SN - 1468-1099
VL - 19
SP - 461
EP - 473
JO - Japanese Journal of Political Science
JF - Japanese Journal of Political Science
IS - 3
ER -