From ideological congruence to satisfaction with democracy: how leverage can mitigate the ill-effects of party polarization
ABSTRACTThe impact of party polarization on voter satisfaction is disputed. While a direct negative effect is expected, polarization has also been found to clarify party policies, with indirect positive impact. This Note proposes a more direct source of positive effects for polarization through an i...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Political Research Exchange |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2474736X.2023.2195476 |
| _version_ | 1827347474141937664 |
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| author | Luana Russo Mark Franklin Stefanie Beyens |
| author_facet | Luana Russo Mark Franklin Stefanie Beyens |
| author_sort | Luana Russo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACTThe impact of party polarization on voter satisfaction is disputed. While a direct negative effect is expected, polarization has also been found to clarify party policies, with indirect positive impact. This Note proposes a more direct source of positive effects for polarization through an interaction with congruence. We use citizens’ satisfaction with democracy (SwD) as the evaluation of interest; we take ideological polarization among parties and citizen-government left-right congruence as independent variables; and we use data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems. We find that higher polarization, while indeed detrimental to satisfaction with democracy, gives rise to countervailing effects of congruence. We borrow the geometric concept of leverage to characterize the way this interaction enhances congruence’s positive effect on SwD. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T23:50:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-749667a12ab54a0aaeaba48de27a1b9a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2474-736X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T23:50:09Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Political Research Exchange |
| spelling | doaj.art-749667a12ab54a0aaeaba48de27a1b9a2024-02-19T07:29:04ZengTaylor & Francis GroupPolitical Research Exchange2474-736X2023-12-015110.1080/2474736X.2023.2195476From ideological congruence to satisfaction with democracy: how leverage can mitigate the ill-effects of party polarizationLuana Russo0Mark Franklin1Stefanie Beyens2Politics Department, University of Maastricht, Maastricht, the NetherlandsDepartment of Political Science, Trinity College Connecticut, Hartford, CT, USASchool of Governance, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the NetherlandsABSTRACTThe impact of party polarization on voter satisfaction is disputed. While a direct negative effect is expected, polarization has also been found to clarify party policies, with indirect positive impact. This Note proposes a more direct source of positive effects for polarization through an interaction with congruence. We use citizens’ satisfaction with democracy (SwD) as the evaluation of interest; we take ideological polarization among parties and citizen-government left-right congruence as independent variables; and we use data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems. We find that higher polarization, while indeed detrimental to satisfaction with democracy, gives rise to countervailing effects of congruence. We borrow the geometric concept of leverage to characterize the way this interaction enhances congruence’s positive effect on SwD.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2474736X.2023.2195476Party polarizationideological congruencegeometric leverageissue saliencesatisfaction with democracy |
| spellingShingle | Luana Russo Mark Franklin Stefanie Beyens From ideological congruence to satisfaction with democracy: how leverage can mitigate the ill-effects of party polarization Political Research Exchange Party polarization ideological congruence geometric leverage issue salience satisfaction with democracy |
| title | From ideological congruence to satisfaction with democracy: how leverage can mitigate the ill-effects of party polarization |
| title_full | From ideological congruence to satisfaction with democracy: how leverage can mitigate the ill-effects of party polarization |
| title_fullStr | From ideological congruence to satisfaction with democracy: how leverage can mitigate the ill-effects of party polarization |
| title_full_unstemmed | From ideological congruence to satisfaction with democracy: how leverage can mitigate the ill-effects of party polarization |
| title_short | From ideological congruence to satisfaction with democracy: how leverage can mitigate the ill-effects of party polarization |
| title_sort | from ideological congruence to satisfaction with democracy how leverage can mitigate the ill effects of party polarization |
| topic | Party polarization ideological congruence geometric leverage issue salience satisfaction with democracy |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2474736X.2023.2195476 |
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