Money, Sex and Broken Promises: Politicians’ Bad Behaviour Reduces Trust

Rose, Richard; Weßels, Bernhard

doi:10.1093/pa/gsy024

Cited by 21 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Even if there is a general negativity bias with respect to how people perceive pledge fulfilment (Naurin ; Thomson ), actual differences in pledge performance still appear to result in different electoral outcomes – at least at the aggregate level. Thus, it appears that voters do not only expect (Rose & Wessels ), but also react to party pledge fulfilment.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A notion of performance that is based on election pledges acknowledges that the relation between representatives and represented goes beyond rational benefits and is also about trust. Trust is necessary to ensure that voters actually feel represented by their representatives – and the role of election promises in this relation should not be underestimated (Rose & Wessels ).…”

Section: Expanding Retrospective Voting To Pledgesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…). Citizens consider pledge fulfilment as one of the most crucial qualities of good governing behaviour, and the abandonment of pledges leads to great distrust in political parties (Rose & Wessels ). Empirically, electoral programs do indeed predetermine the legislative agenda to a large extent.…”

Section: Retrospective Pledge Votingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Retrospective pledge voting: A comparative study of the electoral consequences of government parties’ pledge fulfilment

Matthieß

2020

European J Political Res

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Does pledge fulfilment bear any electoral consequences for government parties? While previous research on retrospective voting has largely focused on electoral accountability with respect to the economy, the theoretical framework presented in this study links government parties' performance to their previous electoral pledges. It is argued that government parties are more likely to be rewarded by voters when they have fulfilled more pledges during the legislative term. Good pledge performance of a party is associated with the ability to maximise policy benefits (accomplishment) and to be a responsible actor that will stick to its promises in the future as well (competence). Analysing data from 69 elections in 14 countries shows that a government party's electoral outcome is affected by its previous pledge performance. A government party that fulfils a higher share of election pledges is more likely to prevent electoral losses. This finding indicates that voters react at the polls to party pledge fulfilment, which highlights the crucial role of promissory representation in democratic regimes. Surprisingly and in contrast with economic voting, there is no evidence that retrospective pledge voting is moderated by clarity of responsibility.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Expanding Retrospective Voting To Pledgesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Retrospective pledge voting: A comparative study of the electoral consequences of government parties’ pledge fulfilment

Matthieß

2020

European J Political Res

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“…Becker 1997). While self‐interest may motivate politicians to appear responsive when seeking votes, there is empirical evidence that once elected voters see them as just looking out for themselves (Rose & Wessels 2019, table 1). Twenty‐three per cent who think that politicians put broader interests before selfish interests are, as predicted, substantially less likely to endorse holding referendums (odds ratio: 0.615), while the 53 per cent who perceive politicians as just out for themselves are more likely to support referendums.…”

Section: Testing Theories Of Referendum Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do populist values or civic values drive support for referendums in Europe?

Rose

Weßels

2020

European J Political Res

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Representative democracy gives voters the right to influence who governs but its influence on policy making is only indirect. Free and fair referendums give voters the right to decide a policy directly. Elected representatives usually oppose referendums as redundant at best and as undermining their authority at worst. Democratic theorists tend to take electing representatives as normal and as normatively superior. The nominal association of popular decision making and populism has strengthened this negative view. Public opinion surveys show substantial support for holding referendums on important issues. Two major theories offer contrasting explanations for popular support for referendums; they reflect populist values or a commitment to the civic value of participation. This innovative paper tests an integrated model of both theories by the empirical analysis of a 17-country European survey. There is substantial support for all three civic hypotheses: referendum endorsement is positively influenced by attitudes towards participation, democratic ideals and whether elected representatives are perceived as responsive. By contrast, there is no support for populist hypotheses that the socioeconomically weak and excluded favour referendums and minimal support for the effect of extreme ideologies. The conclusion shows that most criticisms of referendums also apply to policy making by elected representatives. While referendums have limits on their use, there is a democratic argument for holding such ballots on major issues to see whether or not a majority of voters endorse the choice of their nominal representatives.

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“…Over the decade, a growing body of research (e.g., Beshi & Kaur, 2020;Mozumder, 2018;Rose & Wessels, 2019) has recognised the significant contributions of ethical leadership practices in enhancing public trust in government. Despite the rapid growth of ethical leadership research there remain gaps in the relevant literature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Ethical Political Leadership Restore Public Trust in Political Leaders?

Mozumder

2021

Public Organiz Rev

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This article presents findings from a qualitative study (via in-depth interviews with 121 local political leaders from 65 local authorities in the UK) that aims to understand how ethical leadership practices can restore public trust in political leaders. The study finds that being a moral person, an ethical political leader sets good examples of behaviour, sets the tone at the top and challenges those who do not behave ethically, as well as encourages, supports and rewards those who perform and conduct themselves well. As a result, the level of public trust in political leaders is likely to increase gradually.

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Money, Sex and Broken Promises: Politicians’ Bad Behaviour Reduces Trust

Cited by 21 publications

References 33 publications

Retrospective pledge voting: A comparative study of the electoral consequences of government parties’ pledge fulfilment

Retrospective pledge voting: A comparative study of the electoral consequences of government parties’ pledge fulfilment

Do populist values or civic values drive support for referendums in Europe?

Can Ethical Political Leadership Restore Public Trust in Political Leaders?

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