Party competition over time [Elektronische Ressource] : how voters and intra-party structure constrain party policy shifts / Thomas Meyer

Party competition over time: How voters and intra-party structure constrain party policy shifts Thomas Meyer Graduate School of Economic and Social Sciences (GESS) Center for Doctoral Studies in Social and Behavioral Sciences (CDSS) University of Mannheim Dissertation thesis written at the Center for Doctoral Studies in the Social and Behavioral Sciences of the Graduate School of Economic and Social Sciences and submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Mannheim. CDSS Academic Director: Professor Dr. Thomas Bräuninger School of Social Sciences Department of Political Science University of Mannheim A5, 6 68131 Mannheim Germany Supervisor: Professor Dr. Wolfgang C. Müller Department of Government University of Vienna Hohenstaufengasse 9 1010 Vienna Austria Co-Supervisor: Professor Dr. Michael J. Laver Department of Politics New York University 19 West 4th Street New York, NY 10012-1119 USA Defense: June 16, 2010 Contents TABLES AND FIGURES...................................................................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................................. iii 1 PARTY COMPETITION OVER TIME: CONSTRAINTS ON SHIFTING PARTY POLICY PLATFORMS 1 1.