The Failure of Representation? Mismatched Policy Views between Citizens and Legislators in Latin America

• In Event: Brazilian Politics (II)

Abstract

Not only theories of representation, but also parties’ support and perhaps their sustainability relies on ideological alignment of voters and elected officials. Previous attempts to measure that alignment, however, have lacked proper data, often relying on imprecise left-right scales. In this paper we improve on these studies by using surveys of economic policy preferences of both voters and legislators in Latin America. We find large variance in congruence: in some countries voters are more centrist than their politicians, while in others the voters are more extreme. Additionally, there is variance in the direction of these differences, with legislators falling to the left or to the right of their voters in different contexts.  We then relate these differences to extant theories of party systems. There we find only mixed support for the idea that institutionalization and electoral institutions generate higher levels of coherence. We conclude by arguing about the probable causes of instability for the cases where parties and legislators are not aligned, finding some support for theories relating to leadership by the left, and mixed support for theories involving legacies of dictatorship and issue salience.

Author

• Scott J Morgenstern, University of Pittsburgh