Age, Generations and Voting Behaviour

Abstract

This chapter provides a detailed overview of theories related to the relationship between age and politics (in particular, the voting choice), along with some historical and empirical examples. Furthermore, it introduces the reader to the so-called life-cycle, generation and period effects in order to outline the proper analytical framework for empirical analysis. In this regard, the author discusses the strategy for empirical analysis, presenting research questions, analytical framework, data and method. First, the author presents the conceptual features and the empirical success of the voting behaviour models and a specific comparative research design aimed at achieving a potential for generalization. Finally, the author translates the conceptual features of voting choice models into empirical variables which are testable through survey and party-related data.