Policy-specific alienation and indifference in the calculus of voting: A simultaneous model of party choice and abstention

This article aims to combine the spatial models of candidate/party choice a nd abstention/participation choice in a single decision model and to provid e empirical reaction functions. The starting point of this study is the hyp othesis of a sequential ordering of candidate choice and participation choi ce (Riker and Ordeshook, 1973). The proposed model simultaneously considers the choice among n greater than or equal to 2 parties and the abstention o ption. It differentiates between policy-specific effects of alienation and indifference. The models are estimated with nested multiattributive discret e choice models which are theoretically founded on random utility theory.