While a large literature has studied preferences for redistribution, more general economic preferences have received less attention. Because the salience of the economy has increased in European countries since the beginning of the financial crisis, we could expect that voters are better informed about the economy and have more precise preferences about the degree politics should intervene in the economy. Parties, on the other hand, will not only face constraints with regard to their economic policies but also with regard to the promises the make in their electoral campaign, especially in countries where the crisis had a strong impact and where the government had to implement harsh austerity measures.
Based on data from the European Election Studies from 2009 and 2014, we will investigate the voters’ and the candidates’ economic preferences and assess the degree of policy congruence between the voters and the candidates of the parties they voted for. Unlike many studies of issue congruence, which focus on correlations between party and voter positions, we will more generally analyze the determinants of party (candidate) policy positions, by including into the same model voter preferences, party-level characteristics and the economic context (macroeconomic indicators, including IMF loans).
