In summary, anti-party sentiment is widespread in advanced industrial
democracies, but such sentiment does not directly translate into anti-party
establishment behaviour. More than two out of three distrustful citizens
continue to vote for one of the established political parties. However, when
voting for an established party, they are much more likely to vote for the
opposition. This suggests that anti-party sentiment is at least partially a
criticism of the ruling parties. Moreover, given the option between either
abstaining or voting for an anti-party party, dissatisfied citizens are more
likely to choose the former. Far-right parties are preferred to their
counterparts on the Left, but equally important is that a large proportion
of the left-wing anti-party voters do, in fact, believe parties care what
individuals think. In other words, the Left attracts both party cynics and
party optimists, whereas supporters of the Right are overwhelmingly cynical
of parties.
The Generalisation of Distrust
Dissatisfaction with political parties has its most direct impact on features of
electoral politics and participation in parties and elections. Yet, because the
system of party government is so closely tied to the democratic process in
most nations, these sentiments have potentially broader implications for
citizen images of government and the democratic process. Indeed, prior
research routinely demonstrates the strong relationship between trust in
parties and other dimensions of political support (e.g. Dalton 2004: ch. 3).
Miller and Listaug (1990) even argued that trust in parties is a major source
of broader system evaluations.
The link between party evaluations and other elements of political
support is demonstrated in Table 7. For instance, the first column displays a
pattern of consistently strong correlations between confidence in parties and
satisfaction with the way democracy works in the nation. These correlations
are among the strongest presented in this study. The next column in the
table shows the relationship between confidence in parties and the belief that
votes make a difference. Again, a lack of party support erodes the belief in
this basic tenet of the democratic process.
Perhaps the most striking finding comes from the last column in Table 7.
The CSES survey asked respondents if they felt the most recent national
election was conducted fairly: sentiments which touch the very legitimacy of
the system of representative democracy. Fair and honest elections are the
norm in the advanced industrial democracies included in this study. But in
several nations there is a significant minority who question the fairness of
elections: Switzerland 7 per cent, Sweden 8 per cent, Spain 9 per cent, the
United States and Britain 15 per cent, and Japan 27 per cent. Moreover,
there is a disturbing link between a lack of confidence in parties and the
belief that elections are not conducted fairly. To use the United States to
illustrate this relationship: a full 90 per cent of those who believe parties care about the public also believe in the integrity of elections, versus a bare
majority of 51 per cent among those least confident in parties. Certainly, it is
a challenge to the very system of representative democracy when such
doubts exist among a significant part of the electorate.
In summary, anti-party sentiment is widespread in advanced industrial
democracies, but such sentiment does not directly translate into anti-party
establishment behaviour. More than two out of three distrustful citizens
continue to vote for one of the established political parties. However, when
voting for an established party, they are much more likely to vote for the
opposition. This suggests that anti-party sentiment is at least partially a
criticism of the ruling parties. Moreover, given the option between either
abstaining or voting for an anti-party party, dissatisfied citizens are more
likely to choose the former. Far-right parties are preferred to their
counterparts on the Left, but equally important is that a large proportion
of the left-wing anti-party voters do, in fact, believe parties care what
individuals think. In other words, the Left attracts both party cynics and
party optimists, whereas supporters of the Right are overwhelmingly cynical
of parties.
The Generalisation of Distrust
Dissatisfaction with political parties has its most direct impact on features of
electoral politics and participation in parties and elections. Yet, because the
system of party government is so closely tied to the democratic process in
most nations, these sentiments have potentially broader implications for
citizen images of government and the democratic process. Indeed, prior
research routinely demonstrates the strong relationship between trust in
parties and other dimensions of political support (e.g. Dalton 2004: ch. 3).
Miller and Listaug (1990) even argued that trust in parties is a major source
of broader system evaluations.
The link between party evaluations and other elements of political
support is demonstrated in Table 7. For instance, the first column displays a
pattern of consistently strong correlations between confidence in parties and
satisfaction with the way democracy works in the nation. These correlations
are among the strongest presented in this study. The next column in the
table shows the relationship between confidence in parties and the belief that
votes make a difference. Again, a lack of party support erodes the belief in
this basic tenet of the democratic process.
Perhaps the most striking finding comes from the last column in Table 7.
The CSES survey asked respondents if they felt the most recent national
election was conducted fairly: sentiments which touch the very legitimacy of
the system of representative democracy. Fair and honest elections are the
norm in the advanced industrial democracies included in this study. But in
several nations there is a significant minority who question the fairness of
elections: Switzerland 7 per cent, Sweden 8 per cent, Spain 9 per cent, the
United States and Britain 15 per cent, and Japan 27 per cent. Moreover,
there is a disturbing link between a lack of confidence in parties and the
belief that elections are not conducted fairly. To use the United States to
illustrate this relationship: a full 90 per cent of those who believe parties care about the public also believe in the integrity of elections, versus a bare
majority of 51 per cent among those least confident in parties. Certainly, it is
a challenge to the very system of representative democracy when such
doubts exist among a significant part of the electorate.
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