%0 Journal Article
%T The Impact of Electoral Context on the Electoral Effectiveness of District
%A Bettina Rottweiler
%A David Cutts
%A Edward Fieldhouse
%A Justin Fisher
%J Political Studies
%@ 1467-9248
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0032321718764800
%X Campaigning at the district level can deliver electoral payoffs in a range of countries despite variations in electoral systems. However, effects may not be consistent. Campaigns do not occur in a vacuum, and contextual factors, exogenous to the campaign activity itself, may have a significant effect on the level of their electoral impact. The 2015 General Election in Britain is a particularly interesting case as there was a key contextual factor which could impact significantly on the effectiveness of the parties¡¯ campaigns; the electoral unpopularity of the Liberal Democrats. Using a unique new dataset, this article assesses the contextual impact of party equilibrium at both national and district levels on campaign effectiveness. It represents the first attempt on a large scale to systematically assess the impact of party popularity on campaign effectiveness and demonstrates at both national and district levels the importance of contextual effects on election campaigns
%K elections
%K district-level campaigning
%K electoral context
%K Britain
%K popularity equilibrium
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0032321718764800