Parties, Performance Politics, and Political Representation

Abstract

This panel focuses attention on the importance of issue- and valence-related dimensions of evaluation in both the electorate’s assessments of parties during elections and over time, as well as on when and how parties choose to place emphasis on these dimensions for electoral gain. The papers are unified by a common focus on party performance, yet differ in terms of how they define and measure this concept. Each paper makes use of innovative data, and either advances new theoretical claims or draws attention to factors previously ignored in the extant literature to make meaningful contributions to current debates.

Title	Details
Explaining Costs of Governing: How Voters Evaluate Governing Party Competence over Time	View Paper Details
Issue Competition over the Electoral Cycle	View Paper Details
Positive and Negative Character Valence Campaigning in a Multiparty Setting: An Analysis of the European Election 2014 Using Social Media	View Paper Details
Winners and Losers Reconsidered: Party Valence, The Passage of Time, and Satisfaction with Democracy	View Paper Details