Party Promises, Voter Understanding, and Mandate Responsiveness in East European Politics

Abstract

The literature on reform policy fulfillment after the collapse of Communism identifies mandate responsiveness as the weakest aspect of the quality of democracy in Eastern Europe. We build on this research and specify both direct and interaction effects of party promises and voter understanding on policy outcomes. On the empirical level, we develop a measure of citizen comprehension of party positions to analyze this component of the mandate model, previously omitted in much of the scholarship on the topic. Our findings suggest that elements of mandate responsiveness are emerging in the post‐communist countries, and that they are present in some policy areas but not in others. The effect of campaign pledges on policy outcomes is contingent on voter awareness of what politicians promise. This knowledge is improved by the distinctiveness in party programs regarding democratization and marketization.

Keywords: Mandate Responsiveness, Political Parties, Eastern Europe, Post-Communist Countries, Democratic Performance, Voting Behavior, Voter Understanding, Democracy and Democratization, Citizen Compre- hension, Reform Policy Fulfillment, Party Promises