Context and Congruence Revisited: Party Systems, Multiple Issue Dimensions and 'Good Representation' from a Citizen’s Perspective

This paper re-evaluates how the institutional context impacts congruence by adopting a citizen’s perspective for evaluating representation. An individual perspective on congruence is introduced by (1) identifying criteria for evaluating representation and (2) formulating implicit standards for evaluating representation; these are transformed into empirical indicators (Dageförde 2017). Drawing on the typology, I analyse how the institutional context influences the quality of representation. So far, the analysis of this relationship is restricted to the macro perspective on congruence and the analyses are drawn for the ideological dimension of political contestation. I overcome these limitations by addressing a micro perspective on congruence and account for multiple issue dimensions.