Allocating Responsibility in Multilevel Government Systems: Voter and Expert Attributions in the European Union
Allocating Responsibility in Multilevel Government Systems: Voter and Expert Attributions in the European Union
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DOI：
10.1086/678309
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发表时间：
2015-01-01
影响因子：
3.1
通讯作者：
Hobolt, Sara B.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Wilson, Traci L.;Hobolt, Sara B.
民主问责制要求公民能够为政策结果分配责任，但多级政府结构使这一任务复杂化，因为它们模糊了问责制的界限，使选民不确定哪一级政府负责。本研究考察了欧洲人在多大程度上能够驾驭其国家政府和欧盟（EU）之间复杂且不断变化的责任分工。具体来说，我们比较公民和专家的责任归属，以评估选民是否以及如何能够有效地将政策责任分配给欧盟。使用多层次模型分析来自27个欧盟成员国的调查和媒体数据，我们表明，极端的态度降低公民的能力，通过激励有偏见的信息处理。然而，在背景层面上，高度政治化的环境通过创造一个信息丰富的背景，导致更正确的责任分配。
Democratic accountability requires that citizens can assign responsibility for policy outcomes, yet multilevel structures of government complicate this task as they blur lines of accountability and leave voters uncertain about which level of government is responsible. This study examines the extent to which Europeans are able to navigate the complex and ever-changing divisions of responsibility between their national governments and the European Union (EU). Specifically, we compare citizen and expert responsibility attributions to evaluate if and how voters can competently assign policy responsibility to the European Union. Using multilevel modeling to analyze survey and media data from 27 EU member states, we demonstrate that extreme attitudes reduce citizen competence by motivating biased information processing. Yet at the contextual level, highly politicized environments result in more correct allocations of responsibility by creating an information-rich context.