@article{cb2f4d0ff45a422994c047e3be47b633,
title = "Policy responsiveness to all citizens or only to voters? A longitudinal analysis of policy responsiveness in OECD countries",
abstract = "A close connection between public opinion and policy is considered a vital element of democracy. In representative systems, elections are assumed to play a role in realising such congruence. If those who participate in elections are not representative of the public at large, it follows that the reliance on elections as a mechanism of representation entails a risk of unequal representation. In this paper, we evaluate whether voters are better represented by means of an analysis of policy responsiveness to voters and citizens in democracies worldwide. We construct a uniquely comprehensive dataset that includes measures of citizens{\textquoteright} and voters{\textquoteright} ideological (left–right) positions, and data on welfare spending in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries since 1980. We find evidence of policy responsiveness to voters, but not to the public at large. Since additional tests suggest that the mechanism of electoral turnout does not cause this voter-policy responsiveness, we outline alternate mechanisms to test in future research.",
keywords = "ideology, left–right self-placement, median voter, policy responsiveness, responsiveness, social spending",
author = "Ruth Dassonneville and Fernando Feitosa and Marc Hooghe and Jennifer Oser",
note = "Funding Information: We thank Semih {\c C}akır and Eric Guntermann for excellent research assistance. Previous versions of this paper were presented at the 114th Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, August 30–September 2, 2018, at a lunch seminar at the Universit{\'e} de Montr{\'e}al, and at the Annual conference of the Soci{\'e}t{\'e} Qu{\'e}b{\'e}coise de science politique, Montreal, May 22–24, 2019. We thank Andr{\'e} Blais, Tarik Abou‐Chadi, Patrick Fournier and Jean‐Fran{\c c}ois Godbout for comments and feedback. We are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers of this journal for their suggestions for revision. Any remaining errors are ours. This project received funding from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Insight Development Grant, 430‐2017‐0824). Funding Information: We thank Semih ?ak?r and Eric Guntermann for excellent research assistance. Previous versions of this paper were presented at the 114th Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, August 30?September 2, 2018, at a lunch seminar at the Universit? de Montr?al, and at the Annual conference of the Soci?t? Qu?b?coise de science politique, Montreal, May 22?24, 2019. We thank Andr? Blais, Tarik Abou-Chadi, Patrick Fournier and Jean-Fran?ois Godbout for comments and feedback. We are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers of this journal for their suggestions for revision. Any remaining errors are ours. This project received funding from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Insight Development Grant, 430-2017-0824). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 European Consortium for Political Research",
year = "2021",
month = aug,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1111/1475-6765.12417",
language = "English",
volume = "60",
pages = "583--602",
journal = "European Journal of Political Research",
issn = "0304-4130",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd",
number = "3",
}