Left-Right vs. Issue-Specific Congruence. Using VAA Data for Measuring Representation

Thomassen (2012) argues that there is a blind corner in representational research. Most of the studies analysing the quality of political representation by linking voters' policy preferences with those of candidates and MPs use the left-right dimension rather than specific issues as a congruence measure. Those few studies based on the comparison of preferences on a small number of specific issues report clearly lower levels of congruence than the studies based on catch-all ideological dimensions. VAA data is predestined to shed some light on the matching of voters and candidates/MPs on a large number of specific issues. We will use VAA data from Switzerland containing preferences of 14'000 voters and 3'000 candidates on 75 issues in order to analyse whether there are systematic differences in congruence levels when measured by specific policy issues rather than by ideological dimension, and what factors affects this alternative measurement of the representation gap.