Bringing representatives back in
How political parties moderate patterns of inequality in opinion representation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12869745 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christophe Lesschaeve (0000-0002-0632-6760, University of Luxembourg, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 255-273 |
| Publication date | 2021-04-09 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1680-4333 • E-ISSN: 1682-0983 |
| Publisher | Palgrave Macmillan (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1057/s41304-021-00332-y |
| OpenAlex | W3155590871 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 52 |
Democratic theory argues that individuals should have their policy preferences equally represented in politics. Research on opinion congruence has often found, however, that political parties’ views are more likely to align with those of higher-income and higher educated citizens. We argue that this conclusion does not account for heterogeneity among parties. Based on an integrated dataset containing the positions of over 1,700 Belgian citizens and 11 Belgian parties on over 120 policy statements, we examine how opinion congruence inequality between privileged and underprivileged people varies between parties. We find that left-wing parties align more with underprivileged citizens than they do with privileged citizens on economic issues, while the opposite holds for right-wing parties. On cultural issues, however, both left- and right-wing parties better represent the preferences of privileged people. The exception is the radical right party Vlaams Belang, which on the cultural dimensions better represents the views of underprivileged voters
Comparative politics · Congruence (geometry · Democracy · Inequality · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Representation (politics · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology
The Politics of Belgium
Assessing the Quality of Democracy
Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe
Party Competition and Responsible Party Government
The Rational Public
Political Conflict in Western Europe
Measuring Populism
Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education
Party System Change
The Radical Right in Western Europe
The Forms of Capital
Struggle over Dimensionality
An Economic Theory of Political Action in a Democracy
Political Parties
Left-Authoritarians and Policy Representation in Western Europe
The consequences of supply gaps in two‐dimensional policy spaces for voter turnout and political support
Globalization and the transformation of the national political space
Immigration, Europe and the ‘new’ cultural dimension
Effects of Questionnaire Length on Participation and Indicators of Response Quality in a Web Survey
Does the Numerical Underrepresentation of the Working Class in Congress Matter
Part 2
The nature of belief systems in mass publics (1964)
Party system(s) and electoral behaviour in Belgium
Moderate Now, Win Votes Later
Moderate as Necessary
Inequality in Party-voter Opinion Congruence
The Poor Political Representation of the Poor in a Comparative Perspective
Inequality and Democratic Responsiveness
Oligarchy in the United States
Do mainstream parties adapt to the welfare chauvinism of populist parties
Party representation across multiple issue dimensions
Pathways to party unity
Minority-Ethnic MPs and the Substantive Representation of Minority Interests in the House of Commons, 2005-2011
Ideological Representation in Portugal
Ideological congruence and socio-economic inequality
How Parties Shape Class Politics
Correct Voting Across Thirty-Three Democracies
Income Inequality and Policy Representation in the American States
On the Limits to Inequality in Representation
Education effects on authoritarian-libertarian values
The sources of political orientations in post-industrial society
Understanding unequal turnout
Policy Convergence among Political Parties and Societies in Developed Nations
A Directional Theory of Issue Voting
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |