Much More Than Economy: Assessing Electoral Accountability in the CEE Member States

Abstract

Electoral accountability is considered the mechanism through which voters hold governments responsible for their performance. Questioning the traditional approach of economic voting theory, the article focuses on the influence exerted by the political context—comprehensively considered as government clarity of responsibility, availability of governing alternatives, electoral formula, and freedom of the media—on the accountability mechanism in eleven countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Using individual and aggregate data collected after the 2014 European Elections by the European Election Study (EES), the present article analyses this process in its double dimension of answerability and enforcement (Schedler 1999). Our findings suggest that voters’ ability to express discontent with economic performance in new European democracies is strongly influenced by specific characteristics of the political context. A stable and cohesive government as well as a free media system, in particular, seem to facilitate performance voting in the region.

Local Election in Nepal: Means for Ensuring Electoral Accountability

“…The electoral accountability is considered one of the mechanisms through which voters hold the government responsible for their performance (Fumarola, 2016). The notion of periodic election allows sanctioning political parties if they do wrong and reward if they perform as per citizens' mandate.…”

“…Electoral accountability depends on two sets of conditions: voters' ability to assign responsibility for performance outcomes to incumbents and voters' ability to act upon those assignments of responsibility (Hellwig and Samuels, 2008). The voter's ability to hold governments to account is greatly influenced by the contingent characteristics of the political context (Fumarola, 2016). Schedler (1999) defines the concept of accountability which is equal to answerability plus enforcement.…”

“…In European democracies, voters' ability to express dissatisfaction with economic performance is affected by specific characteristics of political context (Fumarola, 2016). Government clarity of responsibility (Hobolt et al, 2013), the existence of available alternatives (Anderson, 2000), the influence of the electoral system (Powell, 2000), pluralistic mass media may contribute to the functioning mechanism of accountability, ensuring information about the political acts promoted by the incumbent and the possibility for voters to identify and potentially to sanction it (Fumarola, 2016, 56).…”