ISSUES, PRINCIPLES OR IDEOLOGY - HOW YOUNG VOTERS DECIDE

The orthodoxy in British electoral studies is that voters' issue preferences have now replaced class and party identification as the primary determinants of voting choice. The issue voting model has recently been attacked by critics who argue that voters' long-term principles or ideologies are more important than their policy preferences. The precise mechanics of the model of 'principle' voting have not been clearly stated, however. An attempt is made to elaborate a testable model of principle voting and to compare its performance with an issue voting model. Analysis of data derived from a sample of young people suggests that principle voting does not give a better account of party choice than does issue voting. © 1990.