Incumbent - wikipedia Incumbent `` Open seat '' redirects here. For the tennis tournament, see Barcelona Open ( tennis ). `` Re-election '' redirects here. For the system used in the English Football League until 1986, see Re-election ( Football League ). For the ecclesiastical office, see Incumbent ( ecclesiastical ). This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. ( Learn how and when to remove these template messages ) The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. ( August 2015 ) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( August 2015 ) The incumbent is the current holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent ( s ). For example, in the Hungarian presidential election, 2017, János Áder was the incumbent, because he had been the president in the term before the term for which the election sought to determine the president. A race without an incumbent is referred to as an open seat. Contents 1 Etymology 2 Incumbency advantage 2.1 Sophomore surge 3 Anti-incumbency 4 See also 5 References 6 Sources 7 Further reading Etymology The word `` incumbent '' is derived from the Latin verb incumbere, literally meaning `` to lean or lay upon '' with the present participle stem incumbent -, `` leaning a variant of encumber, while encumber is derived from the root cumber, most appropriately defined : `` To occupy obstructively or inconveniently ; to block fill up with what hinders freedom of motion or action ; to burden, load. '' Incumbency advantage In general, incumbents have structural advantages over challengers during elections. The timing of elections may be determined by the incumbent instead of a set schedule. For most political offices, the incumbent often has more name recognition due to their previous work in the office. Incumbents also have easier access to campaign finance, as well as government resources ( such as the franking privilege ) that can be indirectly used to boost a campaign. An election ( especially for a single - member constituency in a legislature ) in which no incumbent is running is often called an open seat ; because of the lack of incumbency advantage, these are often amongst the most hotly contested races in any election. When newcomers look to fill an open office, voters tend to compare and contrast the candidates ' qualifications, positions on political issues, and personal characteristics in a relatively straightforward way. Elections featuring an incumbent, on the other hand, are, as Guy Molyneux puts it, `` fundamentally a referendum on the incumbent. '' Voters will first grapple with the record of the incumbent. Only if they decide to `` fire '' the incumbent do they begin to evaluate whether each of the challengers is an acceptable alternative. A 2017 study in the British Journal of Political Science argues that the incumbency advantage stems from the fact that voters evaluate the incumbent 's ideology individually whereas they assume that any challenger shares his party 's ideology. This means that the incumbency advantage gets more significant as political polarization increases. A 2017 study in the Journal of Politics found that incumbents have `` a far larger advantage '' in on - cycle elections than in off - cycle elections. Sophomore surge Main article : Sophomore surge Political analysts in the United States and United Kingdom have noted the existence of a sophomore surge in which first term representatives see an increase in votes in their first election. This phenomenon is said to bring an advantage of up to 10 % for first term representatives, which increases the incumbency advantage. Anti-incumbency Main article : anti-incumbency However, there exist scenarios in which the incumbency factor itself leads to the downfall of the incumbent. Popularly known as the anti-incumbency factor, situations of this kind occur when the incumbent has proven himself not worthy of office during his tenure and the challengers demonstrate this to the voters. An anti-incumbency factor can also be responsible for bringing down incumbents who have been in office for many successive terms despite performance indicators, simply because the voters are convinced by the challengers of a need for change. It is also argued that the holders of extensively powerful offices are subject to immense pressure which leaves them politically impotent and unable to command enough public confidence for re-election ; such is the case, for example, with the Presidency of France. Nick Panagakis, a pollster, coined what he dubbed the incumbent rule in 1989 -- that any voter who claims to be undecided towards the end of the election will probably end up voting for a challenger. See also Politics portal Sophomore surge Lists of office - holders List of current heads of state and government Outgoing politician Virtual incumbent References Jump up ^ OED ( 1989 ), p. 834 Jump up ^ OED ( 1989 ), p. 218 Jump up ^ OED ( 1989 ), p. 124 Jump up ^ Guy Molyneux, The Big Five - Oh, The American Prospect, 1 October 2004. ^ Jump up to : Peskowitz, Zachary ( 2017 - 05 - 01 ). `` Ideological Signaling and Incumbency Advantage ''. British Journal of Political Science : 1 -- 24. doi : 10.1017 / S0007123416000557. ISSN 0007 - 1234. Jump up ^ de Benedictis - Kessner, Justin ( 2017 - 12 - 07 ). `` Off - Cycle and Out of Office : Election Timing and the Incumbency Advantage ''. The Journal of Politics : 000 -- 000. doi : 10.1086 / 694396. ISSN 0022 - 3816. Jump up ^ Robert Tombs ( May 2, 2017 ). `` France 's Presidency Is Too Powerful to Work ''. Polling Report. Retrieved December 3, 2017. Jump up ^ Nick Panagakis ( February 27, 1989 ). `` Incumbent Rule ''. Polling Report. Retrieved February 5, 2016. Sources Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. Print. Further reading Look up incumbent in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. De Magalhaes, L. ( 2015 ). Incumbency effects in a comparative perspective : Evidence from Brazilian mayoral elections. Political Analysis, 23 ( 1 ), 113 - 126. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Incumbent&oldid=814382810 '' Categories : Political terminology Hidden categories : Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages Articles with limited geographic scope from August 2015 Articles needing additional references from August 2015 All articles needing additional references Articles with multiple maintenance issues Talk View source Contents About Wikipedia भोजपुरी Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch ދިވެހިބަސް فارسی हिन्दी Hrvatski Igbo Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Basa Jawa Kurdî मैथिली मराठी مصرى Bahasa Melayu नेपाली Norsk Português Scots Simple English Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Svenska اردو Tiếng Việt Edit links This page was last edited on 8 December 2017, at 13 : 42. About Wikipedia

Question: when does the incumbency advantage tend to be at its lowest
Answer: when the incumbent has proven himself not worthy of office during his tenure and the challengers demonstrate this to the voters