Citizens and Coalition Politics: A Democratic Challenge?

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Party systems in Western Europe have experienced high levels of fragmentation in recent years. This makes coalition politics increasingly important for government formation and governance. Consequently, coalition politics has also become increasingly important for voters – both prospectively in terms of which coalition to expect after an election, and retrospectively in terms of holding policymakers accountable for the policies they implement. The development further comes with potential challenges for democracy. What if citizens cannot handle the complexity generated by coalition politics? Perhaps the increasing importance of coalition politics is a root cause of growing citizen frustration with politics and even support for populist parties. This panel contains a number of papers that analyze how citizens manage the complexity of coalition politics across several different Western European countries (Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark). In general, the conclusions are optimistic: Citizens are capable of handling many of the challenges associated with coalition politics by relying on simple cues and recurring political patterns in their national context.

Sub Unit

• Division 36: Elections and Voting Behavior

Individual Presentations

• How Voters Predict Coalition Bargaining Outcomes - David Fortunato, University of California, San Diego; Seonghui Lee, University of Essex; Randolph T. Stevenson, Rice University

• Do Voters Prefer Logrolling to Compromise in Parliamentary Democracies - Alejandro Ecker, Heidelberg University; Thomas M Meyer; Carolina Plescia, University of Vienna

• Political Interest and the Perils of Policy Compromise in Multiparty Governments - Lanny W. Martin, Bocconi University; Georg Vanberg, Duke University

• Does Coalition Politics Matter for Citizens’ Political Efficacy? - Christoffer Green-Pedersen, University of Aarhus; Mathias Tromborg, Aarhus University; Ida Baek Hjermitslev, Aalborg University

Chair

• Rune Slothuus Aarhus University

Discussant

• Ruth Dassonneville KU Leuven