Retrospective pledge voting: a comparative study of the electoral consequences of government parties’ pledge fulfilment

Abstract: Does pledge fulfilment bear any electoral consequences for government parties? While previous research on retrospective voting has largely focused on electoral accountability with respect to the economy, the theoretical framework presented in this study links government parties’ performance to their previous electoral pledges. It is argued that government parties are more likely to be rewarded by voters when they have fulfilled more pledges during the legislative term. Good pledge performance of a party is associated with the ability to maximise policy benefits (accomplishment) and to be a responsible actor that will stick to its promises in the future as well (competence). Analysing data from 69 elections in 14 countries shows that a government party's electoral outcome is affected by its previous pledge performance. A government party that fulfils a higher share of election pledges is more likely to prevent electoral losses. This finding indicates that voters react at the polls t

Standort
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
Umfang
Online-Ressource
Sprache
Englisch
Anmerkungen
Veröffentlichungsversion
begutachtet (peer reviewed)
In: European Journal of Political Research ; 59 (2020) ; 1-23

Klassifikation
Politik

Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wo)
Mannheim
(wer)
SSOAR, GESIS – Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften e.V.
(wann)
2020
Urheber
Matthieß, Theres

DOI
10.1111/1475-6765.12377
URN
urn:nbn:de:101:1-2021100709272830121297
Rechteinformation
Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
Letzte Aktualisierung
15.08.2025, 07:35 MESZ

Datenpartner

Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.

Beteiligte

  • Matthieß, Theres
  • SSOAR, GESIS – Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften e.V.

Entstanden

  • 2020

Ähnliche Objekte (12)