Responsivität im polarisierten Pluralismus – Zur Entwicklung der Einstellungskongruenz zwischen Politikern und Wählern auf umstrittenen Politikfeldern

Abstract

Responsiveness of politicians to the citizens is one of the key characteristics of a representa- tive democracy . It can be measured by whether and to what extent the preferences of politi- cians and the population coincide . Particularly in times of accelerating social change, polit- ical decision-makers face the challenge of confronting new problems and solving them in a way that is perceived as fair and appropriate by the public . Since two decades new issues emerge on the political agenda in addition to more traditional policy-issues . How to deal with two problems, increasing transnational migration and climate change, is particularly contentious . Based on opinion surveys for the past four federal elections, this article exam- ines the structure of, and changes in, the congruence of attitudes among candidates for the Bundestag, its Members and the German electorate . While the two groups of politicians and the population differ from each other in their positioning on the left-right continuum and their basic socioeconomic ideas, but are not opposed to each other in principle, a com- pletely different constellation appears in the policies of climate protection and migration . Politicians and the population are largely united in their support for a stronger commit- ment to fight the climate change; in migration policy, however, the majority of the popula- tion favors a restrictive course, while the majority of politicians prefer a liberal immigration policy .