REPLICATION MATERIAL.zip

This is the replication material to the article 'The Indirect Effect of Electoral Rules on Citizens' Satisfaction with Democracy. A Comparative Study' at the Swiss Political Science Review.<br>The aim of this study
is to understand how electoral rules affect citizens’ satisfaction with
democracy. The focus is on the extent to which this effect is mediated by the
constituency orientation of legislators and the proportionality of election
results. The analysis combines data from the European Social Survey and the
Comparative Candidates Survey and covers 24 elections from 14 European
countries. The multilevel SEM suggests two results. On the one hand, what
majority and some mixed-member electoral systems gain through increasing
constituency orientation, they lose to disproportional election results. On the
other hand, open and flexible lists perform better in increasing satisfaction
than closed ballots. Importantly, the analysis reveals a winner-loser gap in
how constituency representation and proportionality affect democratic
satisfaction. Both are more important for the losers of the elections when they
evaluate democratic performance.