Mandates matter: how decisive victories enhance expectations about government performance
dc.contributor.author | Kolpinskaya, E | |
dc.contributor.author | Katz, G | |
dc.contributor.author | Banducci, S | |
dc.contributor.author | Stevens, D | |
dc.contributor.author | Coan, T | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2019-03-11T10:49:12Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2019-04-09 | |
dc.description.abstract | Elections are the main instrument through which voters can exercise influence over public policy. However, the relationship between electoral outcomes and government policy performance is under-researched. In particular, little is known about the effect that the perceived narrowness of electoral victories has on expectations about incumbents’ policy behaviour. Drawing on the literature on electoral mandates and framing theory, we examine how the way in which election results are portrayed by the media affects citizens’ confidence that winners will enact their policy programmes, using the 2015 UK election as a case study. Based on a survey experiment conducted in the aftermath of the race, we find that victories depicted as narrow increased scepticism about the incoming government’s ability to deliver on its promises, contradicting normative theories of electoral competition. Instead, and consistent with mandate interpretations, subjects – especially less political knowledgeable ones – became more likely to trust in the government’s ability to fulfil its campaign pledges when the Conservative electoral victory was presented as decisive. Besides shedding light on the link between the framing of election results and expectations about government performance, our results have potentially relevant implications for understanding how such expectations may affect actual policy-making and the enforcement of accountability. | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) | en_GB |
dc.identifier.citation | Published online 09 April 2019. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1080/17457289.2019.1599004 | |
dc.identifier.grantnumber | ES/M010775/1 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/36374 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_GB |
dc.publisher | Taylor & Francis (Routledge) | en_GB |
dc.rights | © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. | |
dc.subject | narrow/decisive victories | en_GB |
dc.subject | mandates | en_GB |
dc.subject | framing | en_GB |
dc.subject | survey experiment | en_GB |
dc.title | Mandates matter: how decisive victories enhance expectations about government performance | en_GB |
dc.type | Article | en_GB |
dc.date.available | 2019-03-11T10:49:12Z | |
dc.identifier.issn | 1745-7289 | |
dc.description | This is the final version. Available on open access from Taylor & Francis (Routledge) via the DOI in this record. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.journal | Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties | en_GB |
dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | en_GB |
dcterms.dateAccepted | 2019-03-08 | |
exeter.funder | ::Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) | en_GB |
rioxxterms.version | VoR | en_GB |
rioxxterms.licenseref.startdate | 2019-03-08 | |
rioxxterms.type | Journal Article/Review | en_GB |
refterms.dateFCD | 2019-03-09T17:20:43Z | |
refterms.versionFCD | AM | |
refterms.dateFOA | 2019-05-10T15:12:10Z | |
refterms.panel | C | en_GB |
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's licence is described as © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.