TY - JOUR
T1 - Do Politicians Outside the United States Also Think Voters Are More Conservative than They Really Are?
AU - Pilet, Jean Benoit
AU - Sheffer, Lior
AU - Helfer, Luzia
AU - Varone, Frederic
AU - Vliegenthart, Rens
AU - Walgrave, Stefaan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association.
PY - 2024/5/14
Y1 - 2024/5/14
N2 - In an influential recent study, Broockman and Skovron (2018) found that American politicians consistently overestimate the conservativeness of their constituents on a host of issues. Whether this conservative bias in politicians' perceptions of public opinion is a uniquely American phenomenon is an open question with broad implications for the quality and nature of democratic representation. We investigate it in four democracies: Belgium, Canada, Germany, and Switzerland. Despite these countries having political systems that differ greatly, we document a strong and persistent conservative bias held by a majority of the 866 representatives interviewed. Our findings highlight the conservative bias in elites' perception of public opinion as a widespread regularity and point toward a pressing need for further research on its sources and impacts.
AB - In an influential recent study, Broockman and Skovron (2018) found that American politicians consistently overestimate the conservativeness of their constituents on a host of issues. Whether this conservative bias in politicians' perceptions of public opinion is a uniquely American phenomenon is an open question with broad implications for the quality and nature of democratic representation. We investigate it in four democracies: Belgium, Canada, Germany, and Switzerland. Despite these countries having political systems that differ greatly, we document a strong and persistent conservative bias held by a majority of the 866 representatives interviewed. Our findings highlight the conservative bias in elites' perception of public opinion as a widespread regularity and point toward a pressing need for further research on its sources and impacts.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85163677232&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S0003055423000527
DO - 10.1017/S0003055423000527
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AN - SCOPUS:85163677232
SN - 0003-0554
VL - 118
SP - 1037
EP - 1045
JO - American Political Science Review
JF - American Political Science Review
IS - 2
ER -