DP11527 Valence influence in electoral competition with rank objectives
In this paper we examine the effects of valence in a continuous
spatial voting model between two incumbent parties and one potential
entrant. All parties are rank-motivated and are driven by their place in
the electoral competition. One of our main results is that a sufficiently
wide valence gap between the incumbents yields an equilibrium in
which no entry will occur. We also show that an increase in valence
shifts the high-valence incumbent party closer to the median voter,
while the low-valence incumbent selects a more extreme platform.