To cite the article:
Maggini, N. (2022). New Challenges for Representative Democracy: The Changing Political Space in Western Europe. Italian Journal of Electoral Studies QOE – IJES, Just Accepted. DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/qoe-12629
The article is open access and can be accessed here.
Abstract
Globalisation and EU integration have reshaped political alignments in
western Europe, with the emergence of new conflicts within a political
space still ideologically structured in two dimensions (economic and
cultural). However, recent challenger parties appear to question such
alleged bi-dimensionality, e.g. combining anti-immigrant stances with
progressive views on moral issues. In light of such challenges, the
article aims to understand whether citizens’ positions on policy issues
can still be interpreted according to latent ideological dimensions,
exploring possible differences across distinct party electorates and age
groups (young vs. older people). The article analyses the ideological
consistency of voters’ issue preferences and the dimensionality of the
issue space in seven western European countries through original survey
data and scaling techniques. Results show that most citizens (especially
young and right-wing voters) take ideologically inconsistent positions
on cultural GAL-TAN and economic left-right issues, whereas are quite
consistent on immigration and EU issues. (Adipex)