Why Policy Representation Matters

Using cross-national public opinion data, this book is an original scholarly research which develops theoretically grounded hypotheses to test the effect of citizen-government congruence on three dependent variables. After introducing the data (both public opinion surveys and country-level statistics) and the methodology to be used in subsequent chapters, one chapter each is devoted to how congruence or the absence thereof affects political participation, satisfaction with democracy, and happiness. The book also analyzes the impact of congruence on several important aspects of political attitudes and behavior.