Determinants of dimension dominance
In some countries, electoral competition predominantly revolves around redistributional questions (“first-dimension politics”), while in other countries, issues related to cultural matters (guns, gays, and god) or immigration play a more dominant role (“second-dimension politics”). This chapter studies the question of dimension dominance, or more precisely, under which circumstances the first dimension of political competition dominates the second dimension. The chapter presents cross-national estimates of the importance of redistributive vs. non-redistributive concerns in party competition and seeks to explain cross-national differences. It is argued that the dominance of first-dimension politics is a function of (relative) party polarization; the progressivity of welfare states; the historical strength of secular liberal parties; and clientelism, among other factors.
