Responding to Whom? Polarisated Public Opinion and the Dilemma of Responsiveness

• In Event: Voters, Parties and Responsiveness

Abstract

The various crises within the European Union (EU) have had a significant impact on the links between parties and citizens, including parties’ responsiveness to changes in the preferences of public opinion, a key component of democratic representation. This article examines whether parties are unable to respond to their electorates on highly polarised issues for the electorate when citizen opinions are nearly equally split. We argue in such instances parties can be free from strategic considerations compared to when the majority of voters favour particular policies and can present their true policy preferences on highly polarised issues for the electorate. An example has been elections in European countries at the hight of various crises, such as the eurozone crisis and the immigration crisis, on issues relating to European integration, the economy and immigration. The approach differs from previous research in key aspects: the comparison of responsiveness under different circumstances and at different levels of polarisation of the electorate and the attention given to the relative shifts in polarisation public opinion. The article examines party responsiveness in 18 member-states between 2002 and 2015.

Author

• Kyriaki Nanou