Abstract
Disappointment is often identified as a pathology of modern politics; citizens expect much of politicians, yet governments are ill-equipped to deliver outcomes commensurate with those expectations. The net result is said to be a widespread disappointment; a negative balance between what citizens expect of government and what they perceive governments to deliver. Yet little attention has hitherto been paid to which kinds of citizens are particularly disappointed with politics, and why. This article offers one of the first empirical analyses of political disappointment. Drawing on a survey conducted in Britain, it provides a quantitative measure of political disappointment and explores its prevalence among citizens. It then considers which social groups might be more prone to disappointment than others. In particular, it explores whether certain groups are more disappointed by virtue of holding very high expectations of government or very low perceptions of government performance. The article concludes by considering what strategies might be open to policy makers to alleviate political disappointment.
Highlights
Pre-print [This is the original version of an article that has been accepted for publication in Parliamentary Affairs
The results provide only partial support for the hypothesis that political disappointment will be higher among readers of tabloid and mid-market newspapers, on account of the more negative performance evaluations contained in these media
Several recent studies have suggested that political performance that falls below citizens expectations serves to depress a willingness to trust government
Summary
Citizens are held to expect much of politicians, yet governments are supposed to be ill-equipped to deliver against those expectations. Disappointment is likely to be higher among citizens with a limited understanding of politics, among those who trust politicians, among those dependent on government services, among those exposed to critical media messages and among supporters of parties outside government Distrustful citizens do not expect less of politicians than do their trusting counterparts; but they do evaluate government performance in more negative terms, and this contributes to higher, not lower, rates of political disappointment. Disappointment is better thought of as a graduated scale than as a binary either/or condition
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