The Psychosocial Dynamics of Political Alliances: Alliance Characteristics, Leadership, and Political Engagement

Abstract

Pre-electoral political alliances are common practices in democracies, offering a platform for uniting diverse voter bases under shared objectives. This study investigates the psychosocial dynamics of political alliances by exploring how alliance characteristics (complexity, coherence, and indispensability) and leadership characteristics (prototypicality and advancement) are associated with political engagement, win expectancy, and intergroup relations among supporters. Data were collected from supporters of a political alliance (Nation Alliance) (N = 130) before Turkey’s 2023 presidential elections. Participants completed measures assessing alliance complexity, coherence, and indispensability, alongside evaluations of leader prototypicality and advancement. Results revealed significant positive relationships between alliance characteristics, positive intergroup attitudes towards subgroups (alliance parties), perceptions of collective efficacy, expectancy of winning the election, and political engagement. Mediation analyses further showed that collective efficacy mediated the relationships between alliance characteristics and both political engagement and win expectancy. However, the hypothesized mediating role of relative in-group prototypicality in intergroup attitudes was not supported. Leader characteristics are also positively associated with political engagement and collective efficacy beliefs among supporters, highlighting the positive role of leaders in shaping alliance dynamics and mobilizing voter support. This study explores the associations between alliance characteristics, leadership characteristics, and political engagement, providing insights into how these dynamics are associated with diverse political alliances in democratic contexts. © 2025 Societa Editrice Il Mulino. All rights reserved.