ISSUE PERCEPTIONS OF PARTIES AND CANDIDATES - A COMPARISON OF NORWAY AND THE UNITED-STATES

We examine how clearly citizens in Norway and the United States percei ve the ideology and issue positions of parties and candidates. Followi ng in the tradition of Campbell & Valen (1966) and Granberg & Holmberg (1988), we ask: Does the political system matter? We also consider th e role of individual sophistication and whether sophistication has dif ferent consequences in the two cultural settings. Across a broad range of issues, we find that citizens in Norway have a sharper view of par ty positions than those in the United States. Sophistication influence s the clarity of issue perception in both countries. However, the hypo thesis that sophistication matters more in the US is not well supporte d.