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Exit, voice and loyalty: Analytic and empirical developments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

Keith Dowding ,
Peter John ,
Thanos Mergoupis  and
Mark Van Vugt
Keith Dowding*
Affiliation:
Department of Government, London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom
Peter John
Affiliation:
Department of Politics and Sociology, Birkbeck College, London, United Kingdom
Thanos Mergoupis
Affiliation:
CPNSS, London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom
Mark Van Vugt
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Southampton University, Southampton, United Kingdom
*
Address for Offprints: Dr Keith Dowding, Department of Government, LSE, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK Phone: +44 207 955-7024; Fax: +44 171 831-1707; E-mail: k.m.dowding@lse.ae.uk
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Abstract

This paper seeks to reconstruct and revitalize the famous Hirschman framework by providing a comprehensive review of the current use of ‘exit, voice and loyalty’. We begin by critically examining Hirchman's original account, and then look at the way his argument has been extended in different fields both conceptually and empirically. We suggest that while advances have been made, the results so far are somewhat disappointing given the perceptiveness of the original insight. We believe this is because his apparently simple schema is more complex than it first appears, and different aspects of exit, of voice, and of empirical foundations of loyalty need to be analytically distinguished in order to produce testable empirical hypotheses about their relationships.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
European Journal of Political Research , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , June 2000 , pp. 469 - 495
Copyright
Copyright © 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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