9. How Electoral Systems Shape What Voters Think about Democracy

Abstract

Scholars are divided over the question of whether polarized pluralism is good for or inimical to democratic legitimacy. I argue that this divide is due to the common conflation of different dimensions of the electoral supply party system polarization and the number of parties that require theoretical and empirical separation and specification. Using data from 24 democracies around the world, I show that party system polarization and number of parties strongly and separately influence the attitudes of those citizens who have incentives to take a negative view of the political system. Countries’ macro-level supply of choices and individuals’ predispositions interactively shape citizen consent such that distinct partisan offerings diminish the negative views disenchanted segments of the electorate hold. These results paint a more positive picture of the consequences of electoral fragmentation than is common among students of democracy. Paper presented at the conference on “Duty and Choice: Participation and Preferences in Democratic Elections” On the occasion of André Blais’s 65th birthday 20-21 January, 2012 Université de Montréal