Explaining Left-Right Party Congruence across European Party Systems: A Test of Micro-, Meso- and Macro-Level Models.

WOS:000314477100003 (Nº de Acesso Web of Science)Empirical studies on representation have been based mainly on the descriptive analysis of levels of political or ideological congruence between MPs and voters. Very few studies focus on explaining congruence, and those that have done so do not explore all the explanatory dimensions. This article contributes to filling this gap by testing whether three theoretical models can explain left–right congruence among European parties. These models explore causality at the micro or individual level (the characteristics of voters and MPs), the meso level (party characteristics), and the macro or system level (party system and institutional characteristics). Based on data from the PIREDEU project, the study examines the party systems of the 27 countries of the European Union with reference to the 2009 European Parliament elections. The findings reveal that MP–voter congruence is best explained at the party level and by key MP candidate characteristics

Party political representation in Portugal

This study analyses the degree to which Portuguese parties represent their electorates. In this instance, representation is measured by the degree of congruence between those who vote and those who are elected. The analysis has two dimensions: ideological positioning and attitudes towards democracy. On the first dimension, it appears that, compared to the voters, the parliamentary elite is ideologically more extreme. On the second dimension, one finds that elites are more favourable towards democracy than the electorates they represent

Ideological congruence among European political parties

Do European political parties represent the ideology of their voters well? This research aims to provide an empirical appreciation of the levels to which Members of Parliament (MPs) ideologically represent their electorate within political parties in 12 European countries. The variable used is left–right self-placement and representation is measured through congruence. Three main hypotheses are tested. First, MPs express greater ideological extremism than voters. Second, MPs have biased perceptions on the positioning of their electorate. Third, New Left parties exhibit higher levels of representation than the other parties. This article's findings reveal that only the second hypothesis can be supported without restriction

Are green political parties more post-materialist than other parties?

Among other social and political changes, post-materialist theory anticipated the need to strengthen democracy in political institutions in post-industrial societies. This change in political values would mean that in addition to growth in post-materialist values, parties would be pushed to take an alternative view of politics that would entail greater assimilation of democratic procedures. This paper partially and empirically tests the validity of this explanation in four European party systems. The Greens are the focus, since they are considered the parties that best fit the post-materialist profile. In particular, the paper aims to ascertain whether the Greens display a significantly better positioning in respect to support for democracy and the congruence of their voters than other parties, as theory leads us to believe. The explanation of higher levels of party congruence is also expected to be related to post-materialist party features. The findings of this research did not show enough evidence to validate our theoretical expectations

Explaining MPs' perceptions of voters' positions in a party-mediated representation system: evidence from the portuguese case

WOS:000336233200009 (Nº de Acesso Web of Science)The article addresses the crucial but still relatively understudied issue of political perceptions, specifically the perceptions of members of parliament (MPs) regarding the positioning of voters on the left–right spectrum, and the accuracy thereof. It focuses on the Portuguese case, which differs from others studied to date in terms of the links between MPs and voters (in contrast to prior research, Portuguese voters do not vote for an MP candidate but for a party list; the representation process is mediated by political parties). The article begins by characterizing Portuguese MP perceptions of voters’ left–right positions, and then explores the reasons for MPs’ perceptual accuracy. The findings show that MP perceptions are shaped by wishful thinking, reiterating previous research, and that party integration is an important new factor explaining perceptual accuracy

Party Democracy and Party Representation: an Assessment of Post-Materialist Forecasts

One of the social and political changes that post-materialist theory anticipated was the need for the democratic deepening of political institutions in modern democracies. This change in political values would mean that, together with an expansion in post-materialist values, parties would be pushed towards an alternative view of politics which would mean greater assimilation of democratic procedures. This paper tests the validity of this explanation in four European party systems. Specifically, it aims to ascertain if most post-materialist parties (the Greens) display a significantly better position in their support for democracy and voter representation than other parties, as post-materialist theory leads us to believe. It also tests whether the explanation for higher levels of party representation is related to post-materialist party features. The findings of this research do not show enough evidence to validate the literature‟s theoretical expectations.Entre outras mudanças sociais e políticas, a teoria pós-materialista antecipou a necessidade de aprofundamento democrático das instituições políticas nas democracias modernas. Esta mudança nos valores políticos significaria que os partidos, a par do crescimento dos valores pós-materialistas, seriam levados a adoptar uma perspectiva alternativa sobre a política que implicaria uma maior assimilação dos procedimentos democráticos. Este paper pretende testar a validade desta explicação em quatro sistemas partidários europeus. Visa, especificamente, confirmar se os partidos mais pós-materialistas (os Verdes) detêm uma posição significativamente melhor no que respeita ao apoio à democracia e à representação dos seus eleitores, por comparação aos outros partidos, como a teoria pós-materialista sugere. Pretende ainda verificar se a explicação de níveis mais elevados de representação partidária está relacionada com características partidárias pós-materialistas. Os resultados da pesquisa não fornecem evidência suficiente que permita validar estas expectativas teóricas

Is Party Type Relevant to an Explanation of Policy Congruence? Catch-all versus Ideological Parties in the Portuguese Case

WOS:000319128500003 (Nº de Acesso Web of Science)Most research on policy congruence has failed to provide an explanation for it. Party characteristics are acknowledged to be relevant, but the literature has not achieved a consensus as to their effective importance. Nor has there thus far been an analysis of the implications for results of using different methods to assess congruence. The present article seeks to test the importance of party type (catchall versus ideological) for an explanation of levels of intra-party congruence, with a control using the main congruence-assessment methods. The article focuses on the Portuguese party system and makes use of a set of 19 policy issues across two dimensions: socioeconomic left–right and libertarian–authoritarian (plus left–right self-placement), which introduces additional controls of the assessment of party-type relevance. As far as we know, such an in-depth analysis of party-type congruence has not been done before. Findings support the notion that Portuguese catchall parties tend to display higher levels of MP–voter congruence than ideological parties, but the type of policy issue is also relevant: levels of congruence diverge across parties depending on the issue at stake. These results were supported by the different methods used

Ideological Representation in Portugal: MPs'–Electors' Linkages in Terms of Left–Right Placement and Substantive Meaning

In the literature elite–mass congruence is usually measured in terms of either issue preferences or left–right self-placement. The two forms of congruence are only occasionally used together and are seldom used with the purpose of seeing if levels of congruence were similar. With this intention Portugal is used as an extreme case (due to its low level of clarity regarding party policy alternatives, and its relatively low levels of education, media exposure and political interest). It was found that in many situations the results for MPs–mass congruence were different depending on the use of left–right self-placement or substantive issue preferences

What left and right means to Portuguese citizens

Although previous studies have concluded that, in comparative terms, Portuguese citizens exhibit low levels of social, value and partisan left-right attitude anchoring, the truth is that the items used in these studies are rather limited. Moreover, the meaning attributed by voters to each ideological camp was never studied. This study seeks to overcome these limitations. The article reiterates that in a comparative perspective, Portugal does exhibit low levels of left-right attitude anchoring. This is the point of departure of the article and also, it is argued, a good reason to try to further understand this case and extract from it inferences about similar cases. One of this study's major findings is that the meanings attributed to the left-right divide are not clear and structured; moreover, this lack of clarity is positively correlated with low levels of media exposure, education and left-right self-placement. Although the article tests hypotheses about how different groups (manual workers versus other social classes; older versus younger cohorts; post-materialists versus other value groups) might give different meanings to the left-right divide, the major finding is that media exposure and education are in any case the crucial factors explaining the more or less structured meanings for ideological conflicts

Democracia nos partidos políticos portugueses: uma análise do eleitorado, dos programas e dos estatutos dos partidos

Emque medida a maior adesão dos partidos políticos a princípios e procedimentos democráticos pode ser ideologicamente interpretada? Serão os partidos de direita, comparativamente aos partidos de esquerda, e emespecial de nova esquerda, menos adeptos daqueles princípios e procedimentos? O objectivo central do artigo é destrinçar a existência de compromissos ideológicos subjacentes àquela adesão nos partidos políticos portugueses. Conclui-se que, ao arrepio do proclamado pelos teóricos da modernização cultural, apesar de se poder reconhecer à esquerda uma maior adesão àqueles princípios e procedimentos, não só não existe uma diferença significativa por comparação com os partidos à direita, como o partido que manifesta maior adesão pertence à esquerda tradicional (PS), sendo a adesão observada pelo partido de nova esquerda (BE) comparativamente menor.Howfar can greater adherence by political parties to democratic principles and procedures be interpreted ideologically? Will right-wing parties, in comparison to left-wing parties, particularly those of theNewLeft, give less support to those principles and procedures? The central aim of this article is to recognise the existence of ideological commitments underlying that adherence in Portuguese political parties. The conclusion reached is that, in contrast to what the cultural modernisation theoreticians proclaim, despite the fact that it is possible to acknowledge the Left’s greater adherence to those principles and procedures, not only is there no significant difference in comparison to right-wing parties, but also the party exhibiting greatest adherence belongs to the traditional Left (PS—Socialist Party), while the adherence of the New Left party (BE—Left-wing Block) is comparatively more limited.Dans quelle mesure une plus grande adhésion des partis politiques à des principes et à des procédés démocratiques peut-elle être interprétée idéologiquement? Les partis de droite, par rapport aux partis de gauche, et en particulier de la nouvelle gauche, sont-ils moins adeptes de ces principes et procédés? L’objectif central de l’article est de déceler l’existence d’engagements idéologiques sous-jacents à une telle adhésion au sein des partis politiques portugais. Il conclut que, contrairement à ce qu’affirment les théoriciens de la modernisation culturelle, même si l’on peut reconnaître à gauche une plus grande adhésion aux principes et aux procédés démocratiques, il n’y a pas une grande différence par rapport aux partis de droite et le parti qui manifeste une plus forte adhésion appartient à la gauche traditionnelle (PS), tandis que l’adhésion observée au sein du parti de la nouvelle gauche (BE) est comparativement moindre.En qué medida la mayor adhesión de los partidos políticos, con principios y procedimientos democráticos, puede ser ideológicamente interpretada? ¿Serán los partidos de derecha, comparativamente a los de izquierda, y en especial de nueva izquierda, menos adeptos de aquellos principios y procedimientos? El objetivo central del artículo es descomponer la existencia de compromisos ideológicos subyacentes a aquella adhesión en los partidos políticos portugueses. Se concluye que, chocando con lo proclamado por los teóricos de la modernización cultural, a pesar de reconocérsele a la izquierda una mayor adhesión a aquellos principios y procedimientos, no sólo no existe una diferencia significativa por comparación a los partidos a la derecha, sino que el partido que manifiesta mayor adhesión pertenece a la izquierda tradicional (PS), siendo la adhesión observada por el partido de nueva izquierda (BE) comparativamente menor