The effects of regional attachment on ideological self-placement: a comparative approach

Abstract

The capacity of the left–right scale to summarize most political issues can be challenged by the salience of the center–periphery cleavage. However, the existing literature does not agree on whether both attitudinal dimensions are related and, if so, to what extent. In this paper, we argue that both axes can have a dependency relationship, going from the latter to the former. Our main argument is that individuals with a strong regional attachment will assume a more progressive stance on the left–right axis regardless of their positions on the economic and cultural issues, and that this relationship is reinforced by contextual characteristics of the region such as internal homogeneity and external distinctiveness. We test our arguments by using the survey data from the Making Electoral Democracy Work project, which has data for 11 regions in 5 different countries.