Mapping the political space in Lithuania: the discrepancy between party elites and party supporters

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Partijų politika; Politinė erdvė; Kairė-dešinė; Pokomunistinis; Balsavimo patarimų programos; Party politics; Political space; Left–right; Post-communist; Lithuania; Voting Advice Applications (VAA).

ENParty politics in Europe is mainly structured along two dominant dimensions: economic left–right and cultural liberalism–conservatism. This article explores whether these dimensions explain party competition in post-communist Lithuania. The study begins with an analysis of the policy space in Lithuania using party elite data and continues by exploring the attitudes of party supporters. The study demonstrates that an apparent ideological structuring of political parties vanishes when ‘the-party-in-the -electorate’, i.e. the policy orientations of party supporters, are analyzed. A key finding is that the historical post-Soviet–anti-Soviet divide remains the only political cleavage linking the attitudes of parties and their supporters. [From the publication]

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