Strategic Actors or Muddling Through? Political Parties, Local Campaigning and the Single Transferable Vote

hrough a study of local party adaptation to the introduction of the Single Transferable Vote (STV) in the 2007 Scottish local government election, this article asks whether party organisations can be strategic, vote‐maximising actors when a new electoral system is introduced. By examining candidate and ‘vote management’ strategies, the article demonstrates that local parties tended to adapt best in areas of organisational and electoral strength. However, despite some comprehensive attempts to adapt to the STV system, parties were hampered by a lack of experience with the new system and a lack of adequate data upon which to base candidate and campaigning decisions.