The Formation and Development of Party Loyalties: Patterns among Australian Immigrants

Abstract

The loyalties voters feel towards political parties are central to the stability of democratic systems. Political socialisation theories explain these loyalties through parental inheritance. This paper analyses the consequences for party loyalties when parental in heritance is absent, through an examination of partisanship among Australian immigrants. Three hypotheses to explain immigrant par tisanship — withdrawal, economic self-interest, and re-socialisation are tested using a large national survey conducted among immi grants in 1988. The results support the withdrawal and economic self-interest hypotheses, but reject the re-socialisation hypothesis. The relative periods of time spent in the donor and host societies do not appear to have any influence on partisanship. Lacking the affect ive bond to parties provided by parental political socialisation, immigrants appear able to change their party loyalties relatively easily, as studies of ethnic voting in Australia have shown.