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https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v3i2.238

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Intermediate Conditions of Democratic Accountability: a Response to Electoral Skepticism

[journal article]

Maloy, J. S.

Abstract

Attempts to respond to “democratic deficits” in modern constitutional republics must contend with the broad scholarly trend of electoral skepticism. While generally casting doubt on periodic competitive elections’ suitability as vehicles of accountability, electoral skepticism does not necessarily e... view more

Attempts to respond to “democratic deficits” in modern constitutional republics must contend with the broad scholarly trend of electoral skepticism. While generally casting doubt on periodic competitive elections’ suitability as vehicles of accountability, electoral skepticism does not necessarily entail an absolute devaluation of elections. Some normative and empirical research responds to this trend by refocusing attention on values other than popular power, such as civil peace, which might be served by periodic competitive elections. Another response short of abandoning the value of popular power, however, is to draw out possibilities for institutional design from the restricted conditions under which previous study has found electoral accountability to be plausible or likely. This second task requires an empirically informed exercise in political theory. Pursuing it in a programmatic and policy-relevant way requires descending from the grand, systemic level of constitutional structures and electoral formulae to intermediate (or middle-range) institutional conditions of accountability, such as rules about parties, campaigns, and election administration. My analysis reinterprets principal-agent models to develop four general types of crucial condition for electoral accountability, and then ramifies this scheme by reference to recent empirical research. The result is a “top ten” list of specific institutional factors that could be theoretically decisive in helping or hindering electoral accountability. These ten conditions could guide future research designs and reform proposals alike.... view less

Keywords
democracy; theory of democracy; political theory; political system; election research; voting behavior; constitutional state; political control; responsibility

Classification
Political System, Constitution, Government
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Basic Research, General Concepts and History of Political Science

Document language
English

Publication Year
2015

Page/Pages
p. 76-89

Journal
Politics and Governance, 3 (2015) 2

ISSN
2183-2463

Status
Published Version; peer reviewed

Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution


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© 2007 - 2025 Social Science Open Access Repository (SSOAR).
Based on DSpace, Copyright (c) 2002-2022, DuraSpace. All rights reserved.