Party-voter linkages. A Comparative View of Ideology and European Integration

Political representation is one of the primary areas of academic debate, from both theoretical and empirical perspectives; that is, the conditions necessary for its existence and how to assess it. This article presents a comparative analysis of party-voter congruence on two dimensions: ideology and European integration. Using data from the EES 2009 survey, two indicators, proximity and centrism are applied to a large sample of European political parties. In the second part of the article, the effect of partisan characteristics on party-voter congruence is examined. Results of statistical analyses demonstrate that right-wing parties and those that are more Euro-optimistic tend to generate a stronger connection with their electorates. Similarly, party size, age and membership in certain party families are shown to have relevance in explaining parties-voter linkages