NONPOLICY ISSUES AND THE SPATIAL THEORY OF VOTING

The traditional spatial model of elections places voters and candidate s in an ideological space. Empirical analysis of spatial theory uses v oter ratings of candidate and ideal positions on policy issue scales. The spatial model can be enhanced by the incorporation of nonpolicy co mponents as well. These nonpolicy issues can be descriptive (age, ethn icity) or affective (honesty, competence). Using responses for a surve y conducted during the 1965 Canadian federal election, an empirical ev aluation of these nonpolicy issues is made. Voters are not unanimous i n perceptions of parties (or candidates) on nonpolicy dimensions. The traditional spatial model can be extended to include individual voter ideal points and perceptions. This enhanced model proves quite success ful at predicting vote choice.