PARTY RESPONSIVENESS AND SOCIOECONOMIC PROBLEM-SOLVING IN WESTERN DEMOCRACIES

What factors influence party responsiveness to socio-economic problems in OECD countries! Four alternative regression equations are tested t hat model the influence of objective conditions, public preferences an d party ideology. It appears that the way political parties respond to socio-economic problems is mainly determined by their left-right ideo logy. The influence of alternative factors is much weaker: Furthermore , party responsiveness is not only bounded by left-right ideology, but also by the institutional environment in which parties operate, i.e t he welfare state regime.