Failing Political Representation or a Change in Kind? Models of Representation and Empirical Trends in Europe

Bibliographic Data

ID8041999
AuthorsJacques Thomassen, Carolien Van Ham (0000-0002-9844-9097)
Year2014
Volume37
Issue2
Pages400-419
Publication date2014-03-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueWest European Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0140-2382 • E-ISSN: 1743-9655
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01402382.2014.887881
OpenAlexW2213503143
LanguageEN
Citations received21
References cited36

This article reviews Peter Mair’s argument on the failure of political parties and the subsequent failure of representative democracy in Europe. It develops a conceptual framework to test the validity of Mair’s argument against competing interpretations of the development of representative democracy. It identifies three ideal typical models of representative democracy that seem to have succeeded each other over time: cleavage-based democracy, competitive democracy, and audience democracy. The article proposes specific empirical hypotheses for political parties and voters in each of these periods and provides empirical evidence to test the validity of these hypotheses. It concludes with a discussion of the results, evaluating whether the changes that occurred indicate failure of representative democracy or rather the emergence of a different form of representative democracy. - See more at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/suppl/10.1080/01402382.2014.887881#tabModule

Argument (complex analysis · Cleavage (geology · Democracy · Economics · Empirical research · Epistemology · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Representation (politics · Representative democracy · Sociology · Test (biology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Philosophy · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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