Freedom to Choose and Democracy: The Empirical Question

Harding, Robin

doi:10.1017/s0266267111000186

Cited by 13 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…, ; Rogowski ). Indeed, ideological congruence may be important to voters not only from the perspective on an instrumental utility calculation, but because it also concerns the intrinsic value to voters of being able to express a meaningful choice for a party that represents their views, and thereby enter their opinions into the public realm (Przeworski ; Harding ). According to this notion of expressive voting, the purpose of the vote is not about the outcome of the election, but the ‘expression’ of identity, values and ideology may be valuable to the individual in its own right and so provide sufficient motivation to vote (Hamlin & Jennings ).…”

Section: Political Choice and Turnoutmentioning

confidence: 99%

The mobilising effect of political choice

Hobolt

Hoerner

2019

European J Political Res

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Political choice is central to citizens' participation in elections. Nonetheless, little is known about the individual-level mechanisms that link political choice and turnout. It is argued in this article that turnout decisions are shaped not only by the differences between the parties (party polarisation), but also by the closeness of parties to citizens' own ideological position (congruence), and that congruence matters more in polarised systems where more is at stake. Analysing cross-national survey data from 80 elections, it is found that both polarisation and congruence have a mobilising effect, but that polarisation moderates the effect of congruence on turnout. To further explore the causal effect of political choice, the arrival of a new radical right-wing party in Germany, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), is leveraged and the findings show that the presence of the AfD had a mobilising effect, especially for citizens with congruent views.

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Section: Political Choice and Turnoutmentioning

confidence: 99%

The mobilising effect of political choice

Hobolt

Hoerner

2019

European J Political Res

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“…The only bit of evidence I know of has been provided by Harding (2009). Having examined individual survey data from forty surveys in thirty-eight countries, Harding discovered the following: (1) Respondents who recognized at least one competing party as being close to their preferences were more likely to be satisfied with democracy.…”

Section: Choice In Electionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Democracy and the Limits of Self-Government

Przeworski

2010

381

103

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The political institutions under which we live today evolved from a revolutionary idea that shook the world in the second part of the eighteenth century: that a people should govern itself. Nevertheless, if we judge contemporary democracies by the ideals of self-government, equality, and liberty, we find that democracy is not what it was dreamt to be. This book addresses central issues in democratic theory by analyzing the sources of widespread dissatisfaction with democracies around the world. With attention throughout to historical and cross-national variations, the focus is on the generic limits of democracy in promoting equality, effective participation, control of governments by citizens, and liberty. The conclusion is that, although some of this dissatisfaction occurs for good reason, some is based on an erroneous understanding of how democracy functions. Hence, although the analysis identifies the limits of democracy, it also points to directions for feasible reforms.

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“…There are two forms of indirect evidence pointing in that direction. First, there are the findings cited earlier (Wessels, 2011;Harding, 2011) showing that those who report feeling that a party 'represents their views reasonably well' are more satisfied with elections and democracy. The second comes courtesy of Lefkofridi et al (2014), using a specifically spatial independent variable like us but a different dependent variable.…”

Section: Representational Distance and Satisfaction With Democracymentioning

confidence: 98%

When long-distance relationships don't work out: Representational distance and satisfaction with democracy in Europe

2020

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We assess the impact of party representation on satisfaction with democracy. Our proposition is that such representation is not only about having a chosen party in government; citizens also derive satisfaction from having their views represented by a political party. We test this through an individual-level measure of policy (in) congruence: the ideological distance between a voter and his or her closest party. Via multi-level modelling of European Election Study data from 1989 to 2009, we find that perceived policy distance matters: the further away that voters see themselves from their nearest partyon either a left-right or a European unification policy dimensionthe less satisfied they are with democracy. Notably, this effect is not moderated by party incumbency or size. Voters derive satisfaction from feeling represented by a nearby party even if it is small and out of office. Our results caution against a purely outcomes-driven understanding of democratic satisfaction.

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Freedom to Choose and Democracy: The Empirical Question

Cited by 13 publications

References 13 publications

The mobilising effect of political choice

The mobilising effect of political choice

Democracy and the Limits of Self-Government

When long-distance relationships don't work out: Representational distance and satisfaction with democracy in Europe

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