Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the voting behavior in United Arab Emirates by asking 1,800 citizens about which criteria they used to vote for a particular candidate in the past Federal National Council elections. Using descriptive statistics, the study showed that although patron-client networks played a role in voter's preferences — as existing literature about Middle East voters’ behavior has established — they were superseded by personal attributes and the impact of candidates’ campaigns. Emiratis voted for candidates based on three groups of factors, namely: 1) personal characteristics of the candidate including: public speaking skills, political experience, age, gender and educational level; 2) impact of a candidate's campaign including electoral promises and content of the campaign; and 3) patron-client networks including having personal and kinship relationship with candidate. The study showed that religious, political, and personal appearance factors were insignificant.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 213-235 |
Number of pages | 23 |
Journal | Domes : digest of Middle East studies |
Volume | 24 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Sept 1 2015 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cultural Studies
- History
- Religious studies
- Sociology and Political Science
- Political Science and International Relations
- Law