A Spatial Model of Leftist Ideological Shifts in Arab Politics

In this paper we use a Downsian spatial model to explain the political motivation behind the choice of Marxist/Leninist ideology by a number of non-communist leftist parties in the Arab nationalist movement. We assume that the attempts of these parties to distinguish their position from the strict M/L position generates perceptual ambiguities in the minds of the people. Given our assumptions about citizen utility functions, we derive the result that leftist parties gains supporters as they move towards the M/L position.