Why Policy Representation Matters: The consequences of ideological proximity between citizens and their governments

Luigi Curini · Willy Jou · Vincenzo Memoli

Jun 2015 · Routledge

Ebook

142

Pages

Eligible

Ratings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More

About this ebook

Elections are a fundamental element of democracy, since elected governments reflect voter preferences. At the same time, it is inevitable that policies pursued by any government closely resemble the preferences of some citizens, while alienating others who hold different views. Previous works have examined how institutional settings facilitate or hinder policy proximity between citizens and governments. Building on their findings, the book explores a series of "so what" questions: how and to what extent does the distance between individual and government positions affect citizens' propensity to vote, protest, believe in democracy, and even feel satisfied with their lives?

Using cross-national public opinion data, this book is an original scholarly research which develops theoretically grounded hypotheses to test the effect of citizen-government proximity on three dependent variables. After introducing the data (both public opinion surveys and country-level statistics) and the methodology to be used in subsequent chapters, one chapter each is devoted to how proximity or the absence thereof affects political participation, satisfaction with democracy, and happiness. Differences in political attitudes and behavior between electoral winners and losers, and ideological moderates and radicals, are also discussed in depth.

About the author

Luigi Curini is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Milan. His research centers on the spatial theory of voting, party competition and social media analysis. His articles have appeared in, among others, the European Journal of Political Research, Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, West European Politics, Electoral Studies and Comparative Political Studies.

Willy Jou is Assistant Professor at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. His research interests include public opinion, party systems, and ideology, with particular emphasis on new democracies. His articles have been published in Asian Survey, British Journal of Political Science, Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Europe-Asia Studies, International Political Science Review, Party Politics, and other peer-reviewed journals.

Vincenzo Memoli is Assistant Professor at the University of Catania. His main research interests include democracy, public attitudes and public opinion. His articles have appeared in the Acta Politica, British Journal of Political Science, International Political Science Review, Governance, The International Journal of Press/Politics and West European Politics.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets

Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.

Laptops and computers

You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.

eReaders and other devices

To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.

Report illegal content