Abstract
Point of departure is the question to what extent parties in government are responsive and responsible. The answer depends on whether parties act in terms of Principal-Agent (P-A) relations as a mandatory (agent) or as a delegate (Principal) Obviously, most decisions are not fully responsively or responsibly made. However, the closer the gap between the common good (i e responsibility) and individual electoral preferences (i e responsiveness), the better the quality of democracy and thus governance may be. Yet, trust in parties and government in most of the OECD-world is decreasing as well as satisfaction with public policy performance This signifies that in many parliamentary democracies the P-A relations are disturbed. Hence the question of this paper is to what extent there is a growing gap between representation and democratic governance. Is this due to weakening of the responsive and responsible behaviour of parties – especially those in government? The data analysis shows that the relationship between principal and agent is mixed. It concerns two arenas: one, is the electoral arena where responsiveness is in terms of P-A relations mandatory, and two, the parliamentary arena where responsible policy formation is delegatory. It is up to the parties to find a balance within and between the two arenas to further political stability.
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Keman, H. (2017). Responsible Responsiveness of Parties in and out of Government. In: Harfst, P., Kubbe, I., Poguntke, T. (eds) Parties, Governments and Elites. Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-17446-0_3
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