Whiteley, Paul and Kölln, Ann-Kristin (2019) How Do Different Sources of Partisanship Influence Government Accountability in Europe? International Political Science Review, 40 (4). pp. 502-517. DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512118780445
Whiteley, Paul and Kölln, Ann-Kristin (2019) How Do Different Sources of Partisanship Influence Government Accountability in Europe? International Political Science Review, 40 (4). pp. 502-517. DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512118780445
Whiteley, Paul and Kölln, Ann-Kristin (2019) How Do Different Sources of Partisanship Influence Government Accountability in Europe? International Political Science Review, 40 (4). pp. 502-517. DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512118780445
Abstract
The possibility of holding representatives to account through regular elections is one of the cornerstones of representative democracy. The precise role of partisanship in doing this has not been extensively examined. Using survey data from Europe (2002–2012), we show that partisanship can weaken or strengthen accountability, depending on its sources. If it is an affective-psychological attitude, as the Michigan school suggests, then it weakens accountability because it acts as a perceptual screen. If, however, it is a calculation of party performance which is constantly updated by citizens, then it strengthens accountability. The findings suggest that partisanship in Europe has been quite responsive to performance over the ten-year period. Instead of acting as a screen that inhibits accountability, partisanship appears rooted in calculations of party performance and so enhances accountability. However, the effects are asymmetric with left-leaning partisans more sensitive to the performance of their governments than right-leaning partisans.
Item Type: | Article |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | Democratic accountability, European Social Survey, government performance, partisanship, pooled cross-section time-series analysis, simultaneous equation estimation |
Subjects: | J Political Science > JA Political science (General) |
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences Faculty of Social Sciences > Government, Department of |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 23 Jul 2018 11:28 |
Last Modified: | 30 Oct 2024 17:16 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/22027 |
Available files
Filename: Final Version of Manuscript for IPSR March 2018.pdf