When Do Elites Boost Public Trust? Policy Congruence Explained

Political Behavior @Pol. Behav.2 Stata files Dataverse

Representation & Democracy Satisfaction Gap

This study examines how alignment or misalignment of citizens' policy preferences with elite decision-making affects perceptions of democratic quality.

Data & Methods

Using survey data from the American National Election Studies alongside experimental analysis, we track satisfaction metrics across different congruence scenarios.

Key Findings: The Congruence Effect

Citizens report significantly higher satisfaction when their policy preferences align with elite decisions.
This perception gap is most pronounced among politically engaged citizens.

Implications

Understanding this relationship provides crucial insights into democratic stability and representation theory.

Article card for article: The Quality of Representation and Satisfaction with Democracy: The Consequences of Citizen-elite Policy and Process Congruence

The Quality of Representation and Satisfaction with Democracy: The Consequences of Citizen-elite Policy and Process Congruence was authored by Audrey André and Sam Depauw. It was published by Springer in Pol. Behav. in 2017.