Elections, public opinion and parties

The Elections, Public Opinion, and Parties (EPOP) research group is composed of both postgrad students and faculty. We do cutting-edge research on political behaviour (e.g., voter turnout, vote choice, informal participation), on public opinion (polling industry, measuring citizens' satisfaction with democracy, citizens’ values) and on how it interacts with party politics. Our members also examine broader democratic institutions like electoral systems as well as measurements of a democracy's quality.

The group covers a diverse range of regions around the world. Many members make use of a comparative approach and include in their studies countries from all continents. We also have a great deal of scholars specializing in British and European politics.

If you are interested to join the EPOP group, or have questions about its various activities please contact jf.daoust@ed.ac.uk

Key Research Themes:

Political behaviour

Formal and informal forms of political participation.
- What makes people vote or abstain in elections? Is voting a habit?
- What is the role of political protest in relation to democratic citizenship?
- Who engages in demonstrations and boycotts?

Citizens’ vote choice calculus.
- How can we explain differences in populist parties’ agendas around the world?
- How can we map generational cleavages and vote choices for anti-system parties?
- How do we measure party pledges fulfilment and electoral support?

Public opinion

Citizens' values: authoritarianism, attitudes toward immigration, left-right cleavages.
Regulation of the polling industry.
Citizens' satisfaction with democracy.

Political parties

Mainstream, regionalist, populist and radical parties.
Party strategy and campaigning styles.
The impact of institutions such as the electoral system on political parties.

Research Group Convenor(s):

Jean-François Daoust

Research Group Activities:

EPOP meets monthly to discuss its members' work in progress, as well as work by invited speakers. We also organise specific workshops and roundtable events to analyse major electoral events. UoE graduate students in research degrees, fellows and colleagues whose research is related to our themes are welcome to join all our activities and to propose any activities related to EPOP.

Research Group Members: