Determinants of UAE Voters' Preferences for Federal National Council Candidates. (September 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yaghi, Abdulfattah; Antwi‐Boateng, Osman
• Is Part Of: Domes. Volume 24:Number 2(2015)
• Page Start: 213
• Page End: 235
• Publication Date: 2015-09
• Subjects: Middle East -- Periodicals; Africa, North -- Periodicals; Middle East -- Book reviews -- Periodicals; Africa, North -- Book reviews -- Periodicals; 956.005
• DOI: 10.1111/dome.12069
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1060-4367

Abstract

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a role in voter's preferences — as existing literature about Middle East voters' behavior has established — they were superseded by personal attributes and the impact of candidates' campaigns.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.