democracy. In this paper we bring together research on valence, and on party system dispersion, to examine whether the …In previous empirical research, scholars have found evidence suggesting that the character-based valence attributes of … party elites, such as competence and integrity, can have notable effects on their levels of electoral support (Mondak 1995 …

factor in a healthy liberal democracy. We ask two questions: 1) do individuals who are members of civil associations vote … thesequestions looking at the experiences of Europe, which has a rich civil society tradition, as well as of Latin America, which …