What drives process preferences? The role of perceived qualities of policymakers and party preferences
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What drives process preferences? The role of perceived qualities of policymakers and party preferences José Luis Fernández‑Martínez1 · Pau Alarcón Pérez2 · Joan Font Fábregas3
© Springer Nature Limited 2020
Abstract This article analyzes factors which explain support for the representative model and its two main alternatives: direct democracy and technocracy. It discusses the role played by two understudied explanatory factors: perceptions relating to the personal qualities of the different actors involved in decision-making (i.e. representatives, citizens and experts) and electoral support for mainstream parties (PSOE and PP) and new parties (Ciudadanos and Podemos). We rely on two Spanish surveys from 2011 and 2015. The results show that both perceived qualities and party preferences are linked to support for the three decision-making models. The emergence of new parties in 2015 has reshaped the connection between party choice and process preferences and has made this relationship stronger. Keywords Process preferences · Stealth democracy · New parties · Qualities of policymakers
* José Luis Fernández‑Martínez [email protected] Pau Alarcón Pérez [email protected] Joan Font Fábregas [email protected] 1
Universidad Carlos II de Madrid (UC3M), Getafe, Madrid, Spain
2
Departament de Ciències Polítiques I Socials, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Plaça de La Mercè, 10, 08002 Barcelona, Spain
3
Instituto de Estudios Sociales Avanzados, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IESA-CSIC), Campo Santo de los Mártires, 7, 14004 Córdoba, Spain
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J. L. Fernández‑Martínez et al.
Introduction1 Recent empirical studies have shown the existence of three perceived models of political decision-making processes: representation, participation, and technocracy2 (Bengtsson and Mattila 2009; Webb 2013). The main question that emerges from this literature is, what are the main forces which drive support for one model or the other? In this article, we examine two underexplored potential explanations. The first relates to the actors who make crucial decisions in each model and how citizens come to value the particular qualities of these actors. In short, we claim that preferences for these models are fundamentally based on the perceived image of these different actors. The second explanation addresses the recent changes in party systems, particularly in Southern Europe. We aim to find out how the rise of new challenger parties has impacted process preferences. We argue that electoral choices in the new party systems are strongly related to preferences for these three decision-making models. The success of new parties in Greece, Italy and Spain is likely due to the presence of unsatisfied political demands (Lago and Martínez 2011), linked to a crisis of representation and a call to renew the political system, rather than programmatic issues or economic voting (Hutter et al 2018; Orriols and Cordero 2016; Vidal 2018). This relationship is also found within the broader European context, where po
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