Abstract
This chapter explains how, since the end of the Cold War, academic research has advocated increasing levels of skepticism about the empowerment of voters through the electoral accountability of governments. This recommendation is visible from three different angles on the scholarly literature: a review of empirical studies covering topics such as economic performance and governmental corruption; a reconsideration of the thought of V. O. Key, often misread as having vindicated the idea of electoral accountability; and a survey of research on a wide variety of conditions and institutions that hinder accountability, yielding a “top ten” list of reasons to embrace electoral skepticism.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
On post-2008 elections: LeDuc and Pammett (2013). This study analyzes 27 elections between 2008 and 2011, 24 of which were the first to occur after the crisis; I excluded two of these from my count where the incumbent was a “caretaker” government unconnected to pre-2008 policies.
- 5.
- 6.
Wattenberg (1991, 92–93).
- 7.
- 8.
On the tendency for vote-share studies to draw less skeptical conclusions than survival-in-office studies: Healy and Malhotra (2013, 297n) and Maloy (2014, 16–17, 24). For skeptical results based on a global dataset of survival in office: Maravall (2010). On biases in economic perceptions: Healy and Malhotra (2013, 292–93). On the problem of economic responsibility under conditions of globalization: Duch and Stevenson (2008) and Hellwig et al. (2008).
- 9.
Canes-Wrone (2015).
- 10.
- 11.
Quotation at Manin et al. (1999b, 24). On economic voting: Cheibub and Przeworski (1999). On Latin American policy switches: Stokes (1999). On sanction vs. selection: Fearon (1999, esp. 77–81). On political manipulation: Maravall (1999). For the most optimistic contribution to this volume: Stimson (1999).
- 12.
- 13.
Achen and Bartels (2016, 118–28).
- 14.
- 15.
Lamis (2008).
- 16.
Key (1966, 2–3).
- 17.
On the influence of The Responsible Electorate down to the present: Healy and Malhotra (2013, 286).
- 18.
- 19.
- 20.
Quotation at Key (1961b, 490).
- 21.
For a rebuttal to Key’s optimistic account of 1936: Achen and Bartels (2016, 178–96).
- 22.
- 23.
- 24.
- 25.
For the original “clarity of responsibility” study: Powell and Whitten (1993). On lack of clarity in the American federal system: Brown (2010). On lack of clarity in Latin America: Gelineau and Remmer (2005) and Alcaniz and Hellwig (2011). For Paine’s association of democracy with institutional simplicity: Paine (2003, 7–9, 248–51, 294–301).
- 26.
- 27.
On Peru: McMillan and Zoido (2004).
- 28.
- 29.
- 30.
- 31.
On electoral fraud in the USA, yesterday and today: Argersinger (1985) and Campbell (2005). On Russia and Ukraine: Myagkov et al. (2009). On various other countries: Lehoucq (2003, 237–45). On independent and professional administrative bodies: Hartlyn et al. (2008), Kropf and Kimball (2012), and Norris (2017).
- 32.
For average error rates: Stewart (2010, 372). On the superiority of optical-scan systems: Saltman (2006, 189). On the vulnerability of touch-screen systems to fraud: Herrnson et al. (2008, 111–12) and Jones and Simons (2012, 153–54, 331). On the lack of a paper trail: Stewart (2010, 359, 364, 367–68).
- 33.
- 34.
- 35.
- 36.
References
Achen, C., & L.M. Bartels. 2016. Democracy for Realists. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Alcaniz, I., & T. Hellwig. 2011. “Who’s to Blame? The Distribution of Responsibility in Developing Democracies.” British Journal of Political Science 41: 389–411.
Anderson, C.J. 2007. “The End of Economic Voting? Contingency Dilemmas and the Limits of Accountability.” Annual Review of Political Science 10: 271–96.
Argersinger, P.H. 1985. “New Perspectives on Election Fraud in the Gilded Age.” Political Science Quarterly 100: 669–87.
Arnold, R.D. 2004. Congress, the Press, and Political Accountability. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Bartels, L.M. 2016. “Elections in America.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 667: 36–49.
Bovens, M. 2005. “Public Accountability.” The Oxford Handbook of Public Management, eds. E. Ferlie, L.E. Lynn, & C. Pollitt. New York: Oxford University Press.
Brown, A.R. 2010. “Are Governors Responsible for the State Economy? Partisanship, Blame, and Divided Federalism.” Journal of Politics 73: 605–15.
Campbell, T. 2005. Deliver the Vote: A History of Election Fraud, an American Political Tradition, 1742–2004. New York: Avalon.
Canes-Wrone, B. 2015. “From Mass Preferences to Policy.” Annual Review of Political Science 18: 147–65.
Cheibub, J.A., & A. Przeworski. 1999. “Democracy, Elections, and Accountability for Outcomes.” Democracy, Accountability, and Representation, eds. A. Przeworski, S.C. Stokes, & B. Manin. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Chwalisz, C. 2015. The Populist Signal: Why Politics and Democracy Need to Change. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Claassen, R.L., & B. Highton. 2006. “Does Policy Debate Reduce Information Effects in Public Opinion? Analyzing the Evolution of Public Opinion on Health Care.” Journal of Politics 68: 410–20.
Crisp, B.F., S. Olivella, J.D. Potter, & W. Mishler. 2014. “Elections as Instruments for Punishing Bad Representatives and Selecting Good Ones.” Electoral Studies 34: 1–15.
De Vries, C.E., & H. Solaz. 2017. “The Electoral Consequences of Corruption.” Annual Review of Political Science 20: 391–408.
Duch, R.M., & R.T. Stevenson. 2008. The Economic Vote: How Political and Economic Institutions Condition Election Results. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Fearon, J.D. 1999. “Electoral Accountability and the Control of Politicians.” Democracy, Accountability, and Representation, eds. A. Przeworski, S.C. Stokes, & B. Manin. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Fellowes, M.C., & P.J. Wolf. 2004. “Funding Mechanisms and Policy Instruments: How Business Campaign Contributions Influence Congressional Votes.” Political Research Quarterly 57: 315–24.
Ferguson, T., P. Jorgensen, & J. Chen. 2013. “Party Competition and Industrial Structure in the 2012 Elections: Who’s Really Driving the Taxi to the Dark Side?” International Journal of Political Economy 42: 3–41.
Fiorina, M.P. 1981. Retrospective Voting in American National Elections. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Franklin, M.N., S.N. Soroka, & C. Wlezien. 2014. “Elections.” The Oxford Handbook of Public Accountability, eds. M. Bovens, R.E. Goodin, & T. Schillemans. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gelineau, F., & K.L. Remmer. 2005. “Political Decentralization and Electoral Accountability: The Argentine Experience, 1983–2001.” British Journal of Political Science 36: 133–57.
Golder, M., & B. Ferland. 2018. “Electoral Systems and Citizen-Elite Ideological Congruence.” The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Systems, eds. E.S. Herron, R.J. Pekkanen, & M.S. Shugart. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hamilton, A., J. Madison, & J. Jay. 2005 (1788). The Federalist, ed. J.R. Pole. Indianapolis: Hackett.
Hamm, K.E., & R.E. Hogan. 2008. “Campaign-Finance Laws and Candidacy Decisions in State Legislative Elections.” Political Research Quarterly 61: 458–67.
Hardin, R. 2000. “Democratic Epistemology and Accountability.” Social Philosophy and Policy 17: 110–26.
Hartlyn, J., J. McCoy, & T.M. Mustillo. 2008. “Electoral Governance Matters: Explaining the Quality of Elections in Contemporary Latin America.” Comparative Political Studies 41: 73–98.
Healy, A., & N. Malhotra. 2013. “Retrospective Voting Reconsidered.” Annual Review of Political Science 16: 285–306.
Hellwig, T., E. Ringsmuth, & J.R. Freeman. 2008. “The American Public and the Room to Maneuver: Responsibility Attributions and Policy Efficacy in an Era of Globalization.” International Studies Quarterly 52: 855–80.
Herrnson, P.S., R.G. Niemi, M.J. Hanmer, B.B. Bederson, F.C. Conrad, & M.W. Traugott. 2008. Voting Technology: The Not So Simple Act of Casting a Ballot. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
Hogan, R.E. 2004. “Challenger Emergence, Incumbent Success, and Electoral Accountability in State Legislative Elections.” Journal of Politics 66: 1283–303.
Huber, G.A., S.J. Hill, & G.S. Lenz. 2012. “Sources of Bias in Retrospective Decision-Making: Experimental Evidence on Voters’ Limitations in Controlling Incumbents.” American Political Science Review 106: 720–41.
Jacobs, L.R., & R.Y. Shapiro. 2000. Politicians Don’t Pander: Political Manipulation and the Loss of Democratic Responsiveness. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Jamieson, K.H., & J.N. Cappella. 2008. The Echo Chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the Conservative Media Establishment. New York: Oxford University Press.
Jones, D.W., & B. Simons. 2012. Broken Ballots: Will Your Vote Count? Stanford: CSLI Publications.
Katz, R.S., & P. Mair. 2009. “The Cartel Party Thesis: A Restatement.” Perspectives on Politics 7: 753–66.
Key, V.O. 1961a. Public Opinion and American Democracy. New York: Knopf.
Key, V.O. 1961b. “Public Opinion and the Decay of Democracy.” Virginia Quarterly Review 37: 481–94.
Key, V.O. 1964. Politics, Parties, and Pressure Groups. 5th edn. New York: T. Crowell.
Key, V.O. 1966. The Responsible Electorate: Rationality in Presidential Voting, 1936–60, ed. M.C. Cummings. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Kropf, M., & D.C. Kimball. 2012. Helping America Vote: The Limits of Election Reform. New York: Routledge.
Lamis, A.P. 2008. “Key, V.O., Jr.” International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, ed. W.A. Darity. Vol. 4. 2nd edn. Detroit: Macmillan Reference.
LeDuc, L., & J.H. Pammett. 2013. “The Fate of Governing Parties in Times of Economic Crisis.” Electoral Studies 32: 494–99.
Lee, D.S., E. Moretti, & M.J. Butler. 2004. “Do Voters Affect or Elect Policies? Evidence from the U.S. House.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 119: 807–59.
Lehoucq, F. 2003. “Electoral Fraud: Cases, Types, and Consequences.” Annual Review of Political Science 6: 233–56.
Maloy, J.S. 2008. The Colonial American Origins of Modern Democratic Thought. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Maloy, J.S. 2014. “Linkages of Electoral Accountability: Empirical Results and Methodological Lessons.” Politics and Governance 2.2: 13–27.
Maloy, J.S. 2015. “Intermediate Conditions of Democratic Accountability: A Response to Electoral Skepticism.” Politics and Governance 3.2: 76–89.
Manin, B. 1997. The Principles of Representative Government. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Manin, B., A. Przeworski, & S.C. Stokes. 1999a. “Elections and Representation.” Democracy, Accountability, and Representation, eds. A. Przeworski, S.C. Stokes, & B. Manin. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Manin, B., A. Przeworski, & S.C. Stokes. 1999b. “Introduction.” Democracy, Accountability, and Representation, eds. A. Przeworski, S.C. Stokes, & B. Manin. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Mansbridge, J. 2009. “A Selection Model of Political Representation.” Journal of Political Philosophy 17: 369–98.
Mansbridge, J. 2014. “A Contingency Theory of Accountability.” The Oxford Handbook of Public Accountability, eds. M. Bovens, R.E. Goodin, & T. Schillemans. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Maravall, J.M. 1999. “Accountability and Manipulation.” Democracy, Accountability, and Representation, eds. A. Przeworski, S.C. Stokes, & B. Manin. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Maravall, J.M. 2010. “Accountability in Coalition Governments.” Annual Review of Political Science 13: 81–100.
Masket, S.E., & H. Noel. 2012. “Serving Two Masters: Using Referenda to Assess Partisan versus Dyadic Legislative Representation.” Political Research Quarterly 65: 104–23.
Mayhew, D.R. 1974. Congress: The Electoral Connection. New Haven: Yale University Press.
McCormick, J.P. 2006. “Contain the Wealthy and Patrol the Magistrates: Restoring Elite Accountability to Popular Government.” American Political Science Review 100: 147–63.
McMillan, J., & P. Zoido. 2004. “How to Subvert Democracy: Montesinos in Peru.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 18.4: 69–92.
Myagkov, M., P.C. Ordeshook, & D. Shakin. 2009. The Forensics of Election Fraud: Russia and Ukraine. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Norpoth, H. 2001. “Divided Government and Economic Voting.” Journal of Politics 63: 413–35.
Norris, P. 2017. Why American Elections Are Flawed (and How to Fix Them). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
O’Donnell, G. 2003. “Horizontal Accountability: The Legal Institutionalization of Mistrust.” Democratic Accountability in Latin America, eds. S. Mainwaring & C. Welna. New York: Oxford University Press.
Paine, T. 2003. Common Sense, Rights of Man, and Other Essential Writings. New York: Signet Classics.
Pereira, C., M.A. Melo, & C.M. Figueiredo. 2009. “The Corruption-Enhancing Role of Re-election Incentives? Counter-Intuitive Evidence from Brazil’s Audit Reports.” Political Research Quarterly 62: 731–44.
Powell, G.B. 2000. Elections as Instruments of Democracy: Majoritarian and Proportional Visions. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Powell, G.B., & G.D. Whitten. 1993. “A Cross-National Analysis of Economic Voting.” American Journal of Political Science 37: 391–414.
Prior, M. 2007. Post-broadcast Democracy: How Media Choice Increases Inequality in Political Involvement and Polarizes Elections. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Przeworski, A. 2018. Why Bother with Elections? Cambridge, UK: Polity.
Saltman, R.G. 2006. The History and Politics of Voting Technology. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Snyder, J.M., & D. Stromberg. 2010. “Press Coverage and Political Accountability.” Journal of Political Economy 118: 355–408.
Stewart, C. 2010. “Voting Technologies.” Annual Review of Political Science 14: 353–78.
Stimson, J.A. 1999. “Party Government and Responsiveness.” Democracy, Accountability, and Representation, eds. A. Przeworski, S.C. Stokes, & B. Manin. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Stokes, S.C. 1999. “What Do Policy Switches Tell Us about Democracy?” Democracy, Accountability, and Representation, eds. A. Przeworski, S.C. Stokes, & B. Manin. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Thompson, D.F. 2004. Restoring Responsibility. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Tsai, L.L. 2007. Accountability without Democracy: Solidary Groups and Public Goods Provision in Rural China. New York: Cambridge University Press.
VandeHei, J., & M.A. Fletcher. 2005. “Bush Says Election Ratified Iraq Policy.” Washington Post, January 16.
Wattenberg, M.P. 1991. The Rise of Candidate-Centered Politics: Presidential Elections of the 1980s. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Maloy, J.S. (2019). What Research Reveals: Deficits of Electoral Accountability. In: Smarter Ballots. Elections, Voting, Technology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13031-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13031-2_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-13030-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-13031-2
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)