Conferences

In the academic literature on substantive political representation the analysis of congruence between elites and masses is a central topic. Building on two recent surveys conducted in Portugal (2008), one based on a representative sample of the adult population (N=1350) and the other based on a sample of MPs (N=141 out of 230 MPs), the present study focus on the problem of congruence between elites and masses in terms of the left-right divide and, although only in a complementary fashion, also in terms of the libertarian-authoritarian divide.

The paper tries to answer several questions both by comparing the two samples overall and by comparing segments of the two samples (namely across party divides). Additionally, several alternative measures of ideological and/or policy congruence will be tested.

First, the paper analyses the level of congruence in terms of left-right self-placement (in an eleven point scale: 0-10) of both MPs and electors, overall and across party groups.

Secondly, using two sets of indicators of policy preferences that can be said to be organized in terms of the left-right (attitudes toward socioeconomic inequalities, the role of state intervention in economy and society, the role of the market, etc.) and the libertarian-authoritarian (attitudes toward hierarchies, authority, alternative life-styles, etc.) divides, the paper analyzes the level of congruence of both MPs and electors, overall and across party groups.

Third, relying on MPs’ and electors’ answers to two open-ended questions about the meaning of “left” and the meaning of “right”, the substantive meaning of left-right divide is compared across MPs and electors, both overall and across party divides.