Multidimensional government-citizen congruence and satisfaction with democracy

Abstract

In the first comparative study of multidimensional government‐citizen policy congruence, this article shows that citizens are less satisfied with democracy when their views differ from that of the government on policy dimensions beyond the general left‐right axis. Satisfaction is reduced by a government that deviates on European integration and redistribution and partly also on social lifestyle, immigration and environmental protection. Furthermore, this analysis identifies the level of political interest as central moderator of this relationship. Satisfaction of citizens with stronger interest in politics suffers more when there is a politically distant government. Combining data from the 2010 Chapel Hill Expert Survey and two waves of the European Social Survey, the analysis builds on information on citizen‐government policy congruence of some 45,000 citizens and 31 governments in 15 Western and Central Eastern European countries. The article brings a multidimensional perspective to the study of policy congruence between citizens and governments in a time when the preference structure of parties and citizens has become increasingly complex.

Party-voters Congruence Concerning the European Union: An Analysis of Its Evolution During the Eurozone Crisis Using Elite and Mass Surveys

“…Since congruence is admitted to be a basic normative ingredient of democratic representation (though criticism of this stance exists -see below), one may wonder to what extent the crisis has affected congruence, both at the system and party level. Moreover, given the mediating effect of congruence on political attitudes, such as satisfaction with democracy (Reher 2015;Stecker and Tausendpfund 2016) and political behavior -i.e. voter turnout (Lefkofridi et al 2014;Reher 2014) -, we can also ask to what extent the variation in congruence during the crisis may have affected such attitudes in European countries.…”

Two Sides of the Same Coin? Congruence and Responsiveness as Representative Democracy's Currencies

“…In the first comparative study to include multiple policy fields, Stecker and Tausendpfund () not only analyze the similarities and differences of policy congruence between 45,000 citizens and 31 governments in 15 Western and Central Eastern European countries on six issue dimensions, but also focus on the consequences for satisfaction with democracy. Incongruence between citizens’ and governments’ views are associated with lower satisfaction with democracy.…”

Electoral volatility and parties’ ideological responsiveness

“…First, the left-right dimension has been shown to be a good summary indicator of different issues and an effective 'shortcut' for organising the political space (Gabel & Huber 2000). Stecker and Tausendpfund (2016), for example, who make a strong argument in favour of studying citizen-party congruence from a multidimensional perspective, also find that the effect of congruence on a left-right dimension is by far the most important one. Furthermore, it should be kept in mind that the focus of this article is on parties in Western Europe, where the left-right dimension has been found to be more meaningful than in, for instance, democracies in Eastern Europe (Benoit & Laver 2007).…”