Quote:
Originally Posted by jammies
The assumption that political beliefs can be plotted along a one-dimensional line is one of the least helpful metaphors ever conceived. The related idea that there is a "centre" around which political parties maneuver is baseless - you cannot plot voters along a line as if the distribution has any meaning when the line itself is overly simplistic.
There is no single reason the Liberals have been the governing party for the majority of the last 40 years. One certainty, though, is that it is not because they appeal to the illusory "centre", unless by "centre" you mean Ontario and Quebec regional interests.
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Certainly it's not one dimensional.
But, to say because of which, political parties don't try to capture the centre is baseless. Regression analysis can plot a two dimensional line, but most parties cater their platforms to capture the median voter along various dimensions.
Median voter theory is the most studied and applied theory of electoral behaviour.
Read up on it.