How Democracy Works how n How Democracy Works: Political Representation and Policy Congruence in Modern Societies a group of leading scholars analyzes the function- Iing of contemporary democracies by focusing on two basic principles: Democracy political representation and policy congruence. Drawing on recent survey data from a variety of national and international research projects, they demonstrate how political representation works and mostly leads to a fair degree of policy congruence between citizens and their representatives. They also present new insights on the sources of satisfaction with democ- racy and the impact of the economy on elections and political trust. This book is published on the occasion of the retirement of Jacques Thomassen as distinguished professor of political science at the University of Twente. The contributors include Russell Dalton, Hans- Dieter Klingemann, Pippa Norris, Ola Listhaug, Hanne Marthe Narud, Jan van Deth, Peter Mair, Cees van der Eijk, Hermann Schmitt, Sören Holmberg and Rudy Andeweg. works Martin Rosema, Bas Denters and Kees Aarts are affiliated with the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD) and the Institute for Innovation Martin Rosema, Bas Denters and Governance Studies (IGS) at the University of Twente. and Kees Aarts (eds.) Political Representation and 978 90 8555 036 5 Policy Congruence in Modern Societies PALLAS PUBLICATIONS www.aup.nl Edited by Martin Rosema, Bas Denters 9 789085 550365 and Kees Aarts How Democracy Works how Democracy works Political Representation and Policy Congruence in Modern Societies Essays in Honour of Jacques Thomassen Edited by Martin Rosema, Bas Denters and Kees Aarts Cover design and layout: Maedium, Utrecht ISBN 978 90 8555 036 5 e-ISBN 978 90 4851 336 9 NUR 754 © Martin Rosema, Bas Denters and Kees Aarts / Pallas Publications – Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam 2011 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owners and the authors of the book. Table of Contents Preface / 7 1 How Democracy Works: An Introduction / 9 Martin Rosema, Kees Aarts and Bas Denters Part I The Basic Principles: Political Representation and Policy Congruence 2 The Dynamics of Political Representation / 21 Russell J. Dalton, David M. Farrell and Ian McAllister 3 Approaching Perfect Policy Congruence: Measurement, Development, and Relevance for Political Representation / 39 Rudy B. Andeweg 4 Dynamic Representation from Above / 53 Sören Holmberg 5 Is Governing Becoming more Contentious? / 77 Peter Mair Part II The Citizen Perspective 6 Democratic Congruence Re-Established: The Perspective of ‘Substantive’ Democracy / 89 Christian Welzel and Hans-Dieter Klingemann 7 Does Democratic Satisfaction Reflect Regime Performance? / 115 Pippa Norris 8 Citizens’ Views about Good Local Governance / 137 Bas Denters, Oscar Gabriel and Lawrence E. Rose tAble of contents / 5 9 Patterns of Party Evaluations / 159 Kees Aarts and Bernt Aardal Part III Political Representation in the European Union 10 The Electoral Consequences of Low Turnout in European Parliament Elections / 183 Cees van der Eijk, Hermann Schmitt and Eliyahu V. Sapir 11 Assessing the Quality of European Democracy: Are Voters Voting Correctly? / 199 Martin Rosema and Catherine E. de Vries Part IV The Impact of the Economic Context 12 The Impact of the Economic Crisis in Europe: “I’m doing fine” / 223 Jan W. van Deth 13 The Changing Macro Context of Norwegian Voters: From Center- Periphery Cleavages to Oil Wealth / 239 Ola Listhaug and Hanne Marthe Narud List of Contributors / 257 Appendix: Publications by Jacques Thomassen / 261 References / 269 o h W democrAcy Works / 6 Preface There are many good reasons to present a book on the functioning of representa- tive democracy at this precise moment. But the true reason for its creation is a special event of a personal nature: the formal retirement of Jacques Thomassen at the University of Twente. In his long and impressive academic career Jacques Thomassen has greatly contributed to the study of democracy. He has authored and edited several influential academic works, which already started with one of his first articles in 1976, entitled “Party identification as a cross-national concept,” which is still considered to be a classic in the literature on voting behavior. His publications since include many books in both Dutch and English, often published by the leading academic publishers in political science. His reputation as an editor of books is almost unrivalled in political science. But there is much more. Jacques Thomassen has played a vital role in the development of major national and inter- national data collection projects about political institutions, such as the Dutch Par- liamentary Election Studies, Dutch Parliament Studies, Comparative Study of Electoral Systems and the European Election Studies. The data that are still generated on the basis of these collaborative projects provide a most valuable source of information for the study of democracy – without it researchers would arguably not be able to adequately study the functioning of democracy – and thus form one of the most important developments in the last decades in political science. This Liber Amicorum serves to honour Jacques Thomassen for his extremely valuable contribution to the study of democracy. In his career he has collaborated with dozens of academics from many countries. They have learned to know Jacques Thomassen as a most competent and erudite scholar and a good colleague; and many enjoy the privilege of being amongst the many friends that he has made over these years. This volume is a collection of essays by some of these colleagues and friends. In planning this volume, we had to be very restrictive, and as a result many colleagues who would have liked to contribute to this book could not be taken on board. The final set of essays demonstrate the appreciation of the authors for Jacques Thomassen by bringing together in this volume some of their very best and fresh work on the theme that has been at the heart of his research agenda: the functioning of representative democracy. Together, these contributions provide the most up-to-date assessment of how democracy works in the world of today. The contributions in this volume have been created in the spirit of Jacques Thomassen’s work. We hope that, together, they testify to the importance of Jacques’ work as well as more generally to the need for theory-based, large-scale, international and longitudinal research in political science. Theplanning and production of this book have taken place in a remarkably short period of time. We would like to extend our warmest appreciation to the persons who have made this possible and we would like to mention some explicitly. First of all, the authors who have contributed to this book have all adhered to the extremely strict deadlines that we imposed. We are very grateful for their cooperation. We also extend our thanks to Erik van Aert and his colleagues at Amsterdam University Press for the smooth cooperation in bringing these essays to the presses. We are also grateful to Marcia Clifford and Marloes Nannings for their valuable assistance in preparing the tables and bibliography. Last but not least, Janine van der Woude, our (and Jacques’) wonderful secretary at the Department of Political Science and Research Methods, succeeded in transforming each of the contributions into a con- sistent format and a proper book chapter under the pressure of time and secrecy. Martin Rosema, Bas Denters and Kees Aarts Enschede, August 2010 o h W democrAcy Works / 8 How Democracy Works 1 An Introduction Martin Rosema, Kees Aarts and Bas Denters 1.1 Introduction One of the stories that Jacques Thomassen is known to have related more than once, and which is therefore probably of some significance, is about how his 1976 dissertation Kiezers en gekozenen in een representatieve demokratie was received. The dissertation reported on the first true representation study con- ducted in the Netherlands, consisting of surveys among the members of parliament as well as among a sample from the Dutch electorate. It was part of a larger, inter- national research effort that involved researchers from the United States, Germany, Sweden, France, Italy and the Netherlands. Many of these count among the top political scientists of the last decades. The dissertation contained several remarkable results. Members of parliament appeared to have different policy views than their own voters. Notably, the repre- sentatives of left-wing parties were quite out of touch with their voters on law-and- order types of issues. The Dutch press showed a great interest in these results, and the dissertation promised to attract a great deal of coverage. Then a government- appointed committee published its long-expected report on the alleged corruption and bribing affair involving airplane construction firms and Prince Bernard, the Dutch prince consort. Within hours, the media attention shifted completely to the report, and attention for Thomassen’s dissertation dwindled. The story shows how the results of meticulous, time-consuming empirical research do not easily make the headlines – the news of the day is more attrac- tive for the mass media. At the same time, serious research is indispensable for understanding and appraising the developments in everyday politics. It provides the frames for understanding the news, and offers possibilities for comparing the events of here and today with those in other countries or in the past. Without an idea about the divergence of mass and elite opinions, how could one have understood the outburst of popular support for Prince Bernard at the annual ceremony of the opening of the parliamentary year in 1976? Mass-elite relationships, in particular the democratic forms of these, and public opinion have been at the focus of Thomassen’s research since his earliest publica- tions.