TY - BOOK ID - 101697365 TI - Rationality of irrationality : political determinants and effects of party position blurring PY - 2022 SN - 0472902911 0472075535 PB - Ann Arbor, Michigan : University of Michigan Press, DB - UniCat KW - Political parties. KW - Political psychology. KW - Right and left (Political science) KW - Left (Political science) KW - Left and right (Political science) KW - Right (Political science) KW - Political science KW - Mass political behavior KW - Political behavior KW - Politics, Practical KW - Psychology, Political KW - Psychology KW - Social psychology KW - Parties, Political KW - Party systems, Political KW - Political party systems KW - Divided government KW - Intra-party disagreements (Political parties) KW - Political conventions KW - Psychological aspects KW - Political parties KW - Political party rules. KW - Party rules, Political KW - Rules, Political party KW - Party platforms, Political KW - Platforms of political parties KW - Political party platforms KW - Political platforms UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:101697365 AB - Citizens in democracies complain that political parties' positions on major issues are too ambiguous for them to confidently understand. Why is party position ambiguity so common? Are party positions ambiguous because political parties fail in forming a clear policy position or because they deliberately blur their position? Rationality of Irrationality argues that political parties are motivated to strategically blur their position on an issue when they struggle with a certain disadvantage in the issue. Specifically, political parties present an ambiguous position when their own supporters are divided in their stances on the issue. A political party also blurs a position stance when voters do not acknowledge that the party has ability and integrity to solve problems related to the issue. Political parties blur their position in these cases because ambiguous party positions divert voters' attention from the issue. Voters support a political party whose policy positions on major issues are close to their own stances. However, voters cannot confidently and exactly estimate party positions on an issue when they are only ambiguous. ER -