Coalition Governance, Responsibility Attribution, and the Economic Vote

Abstract

Literature on the economic vote has tended to see all coalition governments as arrangements that make the attribution of responsibilities for executive decision-making difficult, but coalitions differ in many respects, including the way they make decisions. There is therefore variance in the way parties in office share responsibilities. This, we argue, can have a crucial impact on how voters assess coalition governments at the polls. More concretely, we believe it will affect the importance/presence of the economic vote, which will vary depending on the specific coalition we look at.

Keywords: Coalition Politics, Responsibility Attribution, Economic Vote, Accountability