Ideological Congruence and Citizen Satisfaction: Evidence From 25 Advanced Democracies. (May 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mayne, Quinton; Hakhverdian, Armen
• Other Names: Essaiasson Peter guest-editor.; Wlezien Christopher guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Comparative political studies. Volume 50:Number 6(2017:May)
• Page Start: 822
• Page End: 849
• Publication Date: 2017-05
• Subjects: elections -- public opinion -- voting behavior -- representation and electoral systems -- political parties; Political science -- Periodicals; 320.05
• DOI: 10.1177/0010414016639708
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0010-4140

Abstract

Ideological congruence is an important and popular measure of the quality of political representation. The closer the match between the preferences of the public and those of elected elites, the better representative democracy is thought to function. Relatively little attention has been paid, however, to the effects of ideological congruence on political judgment. We address this gap by examining whether citizens use egocentric or sociotropic judgments of congruence to evaluate democratic performance. Using a variety of congruence measures, we find that citizens are unmoved by sociotropic congruence; however, our analyses provide clear evidence that egocentric congruence boosts citizen satisfaction, especially among political sophisticates. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for the study of ideological congruence and political representation.