The rhyme and reason of rebel support
Exploring European voters’ attitudes toward dissident MPs
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7972585 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dominik Duell (0000-0001-5730-0715, Universität Innsbruck), Lea Kaftan (0000-0002-8961-6420, Witten/Herdecke University), Sven-Oliver Proksch (0000-0002-6130-6498, University of Cologne), Jonathan Slapin (0000-0002-6237-2868, University of Zurich), Christopher Wratil (0000-0002-7339-9628, University of Vienna, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 301-317 |
| Publication date | 2024-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Political Science Research and Methods (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2049-8470 • E-ISSN: 2049-8489 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/psrm.2023.26 |
| OpenAlex | W4385703461 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 18 |
Citizens often support politicians who vote against their parties in parliament. They view rebels as offering better representation, appreciate expressive acts, take rebellion as a signal of standing up for constituents, or see rebels as defending their moral convictions. Each explanation has different implications for representation, but they have not yet been tested systematically against one another. We implement survey experiments on nationally representative samples in the UK, Germany, France, and Italy to assess whether voters treat rebellion as a cue for better representation or infer positive character traits implying a valence advantage. Policy congruence does not drive voters’ preference for rebels. However, voters do associate positive traits with rebel MPs, even if they do not feel better represented by them
Congruence (geometry · Economics · Optimal distinctiveness theory · Parliament · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Representation (politics · Sociology · Valence (chemistry · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Psychology · Social Psychology
Party Discipline and Parliamentary Politics
Experimental Designs for Identifying Causal Mechanisms
Costly Signals
Politicians as Party Hacks
Assessing the relative influence of party unity on vote choice
Ends Against the Middle
Analyzing Causal Mechanisms in Survey Experiments
Causal Inference in Conjoint Analysis
Party unity in parliamentary democracies
Do voters reward rebellion? The electoral accountability of MPs in Britain
Electoral Incentives and Partisan Conflict in Congress
Multidimensional Representation
The Electoral Costs of Party Loyalty in Congress
Legislator Dissent as a Valence Signal
Voter reaction to legislator dissent across political systems
The consequences of appearing divided
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |