And now for a word from the department of amateur political scientists. In a gross over-simplification, two-party politics can be modelled as a game where each party has to position itself on the well known left-right spectrum. Each person has a preference for a position on that spectrum, and will vote for the party that chooses the spot closest to that preference. The rational strategy sees both parties rush towards the centre.
What happens if we postulate some new behaviour: some people, especially those with preferences towards the extremities of the spectrum, may become "rusted-on" voters. A rusted-on voter won't ever vote for the other party. If each party suspects that its rusted-on voters are loyal, but that those opposite could be tempted to change, then we might find that the parties actually cross over. A left party might start to introduce more right-leaning policies, and vice-versa.
I think I've seen this in a number of situations. In the UK, the (left) labour party has decided to remove the lowest tax bracket, meaning that people on lower incomes have to pay more tax. One might suggest that progressive taxation is a left policy, whereas flat tax rates is a right policy. The left government is moving to the right.
In Queensland, the (left) labor government looked at daylight saving - moving the clocks an hour forward in the summer. Its prime constituency is in the highly populated southeast corner of the state, the most populous area, and the part with the most to benefit from daylight saving. But the government has refused, not wanting to alienate the more conservative (right) country areas.
The relatively new leader of the UK conservative party is much more left-wing than others in recent history.
The Australian federal Liberal (conservative, right) party has elected Brendan Nelson as its leader. He was once a member of the Labor (left) party. He has dissociated the party from many (but not all) of the previously right policies, including some in industrial relations, gay rights, and an apology to the Aborigines.
Ok, so it's not clear that on any single one of these positions, the right party is to the left of the left party. And of course the whole left-right spectrum is very artificial, and becoming less useful. But maybe that's the point.
There must be other articles/blogs about this. Maybe someone will send me some interesting links.
What happens if we postulate some new behaviour: some people, especially those with preferences towards the extremities of the spectrum, may become "rusted-on" voters. A rusted-on voter won't ever vote for the other party. If each party suspects that its rusted-on voters are loyal, but that those opposite could be tempted to change, then we might find that the parties actually cross over. A left party might start to introduce more right-leaning policies, and vice-versa.
I think I've seen this in a number of situations. In the UK, the (left) labour party has decided to remove the lowest tax bracket, meaning that people on lower incomes have to pay more tax. One might suggest that progressive taxation is a left policy, whereas flat tax rates is a right policy. The left government is moving to the right.
In Queensland, the (left) labor government looked at daylight saving - moving the clocks an hour forward in the summer. Its prime constituency is in the highly populated southeast corner of the state, the most populous area, and the part with the most to benefit from daylight saving. But the government has refused, not wanting to alienate the more conservative (right) country areas.
The relatively new leader of the UK conservative party is much more left-wing than others in recent history.
The Australian federal Liberal (conservative, right) party has elected Brendan Nelson as its leader. He was once a member of the Labor (left) party. He has dissociated the party from many (but not all) of the previously right policies, including some in industrial relations, gay rights, and an apology to the Aborigines.
Ok, so it's not clear that on any single one of these positions, the right party is to the left of the left party. And of course the whole left-right spectrum is very artificial, and becoming less useful. But maybe that's the point.
There must be other articles/blogs about this. Maybe someone will send me some interesting links.
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