The Unfulfilled Electoral Potential of West European Liberal Parties

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Alexander Davenport (Postdoctoral researcher, Postdoctoral researcher, Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences)

The Unfulfilled Electoral Potential of West European Liberal Parties

Name: The Unfulfilled Electoral Potential of West European Liberal Parties
Price: 199.95 AUD
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ISBN: 9780198978817

Alexander Davenport (Postdoctoral researcher, Postdoctoral researcher, Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences)

$199.95

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English

Oxford University Press
14 May 2026

Political science & theory; Comparative politics; Elections & referenda

For all their long histories, liberal parties win relatively little popular support in most of Western Europe. This book, however, highlights an influx of voters combining economically free-market and culturally cosmopolitan ('market cosmopolitan') policy preferences, and argues that liberal parties are uniquely well positioned to appeal to these voters, offering the potential for a sizeable increase in their electoral support. Combining voter- and expert-level data, Davenport shows that in ideological terms alone, the majority of liberal parties, termed 'social liberals', occupy more promising positions than any other group of parties due to their proximity to these market cosmopolitan voters. In practice, however, social liberals only win the support of a small proportion of these market cosmopolitans, who instead tend to vote for either conservative or social democratic parties. The fact that these voters overlook social liberals in favour of such ideologically diverse alternatives presents a clear puzzle which appears to run counter the accepted wisdom that voters support parties that best represent their own ideological positions. Having set out this puzzle, the book then moves on to set out a twofold explanation for it, highlighting both social liberals' negative non-ideological reputations and market cosmopolitans' pre-existing partisan loyalties. It concludes by noting that these voters retain the potential to reshape electoral politics in Western Europe, even if this potential has been as yet unfulfilled.

By: Alexander Davenport (Postdoctoral researcher Postdoctoral researcher Institute of Sociology Czech Academy of Sciences)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 14mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 234mm
Weight: 464g
ISBN: 9780198978817
ISBN 10: 0198978812
Pages: 228
Publication Date: 14 May 2026
Audience: Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , Undergraduate , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Alexander Davenport is a postdoctoral researcher at the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague. He received his PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the European University Institute in Florence in September 2023 and his research focuses on elections, voter behaviour, and political attitudes. Back flap text