Legislator dissent as a valence signal

Campbell, Rosie; Cowley, Phil; Vivyan, Nick; Markus, Wagner

doi:10.1017/s0007123416000223

Legislator dissent as a valence signal

Campbell, Rosie; Cowley, Phil; Vivyan, Nick; Markus, Wagner

Authors

Rosie Campbell

Phil Cowley

Professor Nick Vivyan nick.vivyan@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Wagner Markus

Abstract

Existing research suggests that voters tend to respond positively to legislator independence due to two types of mechanism. First, dissent has an indirect effect, increasing a legislator’s media coverage and personal recognition among constituents (profile effects). Secondly, constituents react positively to dissent when this signals that the legislator has matching political or representational preferences (conditional evaluation). This article presents a third effect: dissent acts as a valence signal of integrity and trustworthiness. Consistent with the valence signalling mechanism, it uses new observational and experimental evidence to show that British voters have a strong and largely unconditional preference for legislators who dissent. The findings pose a dilemma for political systems that rely on strong and cohesive parties.

Citation

Campbell, R., Cowley, P., Vivyan, N., & Markus, W. (2019). Legislator dissent as a valence signal. British Journal of Political Science, 49(1), 105-128. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007123416000223

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Feb 1, 2016
Online Publication Date	Jun 24, 2016
Publication Date	Jan 31, 2019
Deposit Date	Feb 1, 2016
Publicly Available Date	Apr 18, 2016
Journal	British Journal of Political Science
Print ISSN	0007-1234
Electronic ISSN	1469-2112
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	49
Issue	1
Pages	105-128
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007123416000223

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Copyright Statement
This article has been published in a revised form in British Journal of Political Science https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007123416000223. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © Copyright Cambridge University Press 2016.