Most appropriate Approaches to the study of Elections

 

There is a wide variety of approaches to the study of election. However, the following ones identified by Denis Cohen have been quite dominantly used by many behavioral scientists and shall therefore be chosen for highlights in this post.

Table of Content

At the end of this post you should be able to, among other things:

1. Understand some popular methodological approaches to the study of elections.

2. Compare and contrast these methodological approaches for use in practical political analysis

Read On: Meanings, Functions, Types and Characteristics of Election

Most appropriate Approaches to the study of Elections

1. The Case-Study Approach

2. The Nuffield Approach

3. The System Approach

 Read On: Definition, Component, Types and Functions of Political System

 

1. The Case-Study Approach

This methodological approach 'relies on intensive case studies of small areas - a single constituency, town or district - in order to obtain a clearer picture of mass reaction to, and participation in, the elections'. This approach is quite popular in electoral studies but because it studies particular case in time, it often focuses on a single constituency of region, and the researcher may, in the process, gloss over important linkages between the case studied and the wider system.

The case study approach is also susceptible to excessive emphasis on the cultural history and ecology of the local arena, rendering the electoral contest itself downgraded. In addition, conclusions reached from the case study approach may suffer adequate capacity for general applicability since they are often not generated from empirical premises.

2. The Nuffield Approach

Named in line with the Oxford University’ Nuffield College which has played an important role in encouraging research into elections in Britain as well as in Africa, this approach focuses on the wider national political and historical contexts of elections, making attempt to examine key issues in elections, number and nature of the political parties in elections, nature of electioneering campaigns, as well as background peculiarities of the parties, constituencies, and candidates involved in elections.

This approach however tends to overlook developments, events and sentiments below the national centre of government, such as in single constituencies, towns or rural areas where elections are held. The case study approach is not known to have such limitation or challenge.

3. The System Approach

The main distinction of this approach is that it is primarily concerned with the functional impact of the election on the wider political system than with the election itself. In other words, the System Approach focuses essentially on the structural functions - such as political legitimacy, recruitment and communication - which an electoral event may perform for a given political system, rather than on the autonomous importance of the electoral event itself. 

4. The Sample Survey Approach

This approach relies heavily on quantitative techniques and is based on the use of sample surveys or the collection and analysis of electoral data derived from a small, but very representative sector of a wider population. Taking its roots from the behavioral revolution in the United States of America, the sample survey approach is highly scientific and in terms of generating reliable generalizations, compared to, say, the Nuffield or the Case-Study approach. This is because sample survey is based on empirical values. The approach however requires quite enormous material and human resources that may be luxury to many poor countries. This has been widely considered as its main weakness.

Read On: Meaning, Origin, Types, Examples and Functions of Political Parties

 

Conclusion on Most appropriate Approaches to the study of Elections

We can conclude that although many approaches to electoral studies there are, the Case Study, Nuffield, System and Sample Survey as identified by Denis Cohen, are quite common. Each of these four approaches has it strengths and limitations and researchers should consider ecology and other contextual factors before choosing any of them. Student may particularly read Denis Cohen's contribution on 'Elections and Election Studies in Africa for detailed understanding of these issues.