Voter Perceptions of Legislative Productivity in Coalition Governments

• In Event: The Relationship between the Public and Parliament

Abstract

This paper explores how coalition government legislative actions influence voter perceptions of party ideology. While existing literature highlights the role of coalition formation as a heuristic for voters, it primarily focuses on initial coalition decisions, leaving a gap regarding the impact of party actions during governance. I argue that voters update their perceptions of parties based on legislative productivity. I argue that increased legislation leads voter perceptions of coalition partners to converge on both the left-right scale and specific issue dimensions. Using cross-national data across Europe and panel data from Germany, I show that voter perceptions of parties on both the left-right and climate change are responsive to legislative productivity within a given cabinet, showing that voters are more attentive to coalition government actions than previously established. However, this effect is conditional on time. Voters are less responsive to legislation the longer coalition partners govern together.

Author

• Kendall Curtis, University of Texas at Austin