In this article, it is shown that citizen process preferences are complex and include several dimensions. The argument relies on data from a representative sample of Spanish citizens (N = 2,450) to assess these dimensions. Using confirmatory factor analysis as well as Mokken analysis, it is shown that citizen process preferences capture support for three different models: participatory, representative and expert-based. The relationships between these dimensions (where the opposition between representation and participation stands as the clearest result) and the substantive and methodological implications of these findings are discussed.
AndersonC. and Goodyear-GrantE. (2010) ‘Why are Highly Informed Citizens Sceptical of Referenda?’, Electoral Studies, 29 (2), 227–38.
2.
BagozziR. P. and YiY. (1988) ‘On the Evaluation of Structural Equation Models’, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 16 (1), 74–94.
3.
BengtssonA. (2012) ‘Citizens Perceptions of Political Processes: A Critical Evaluation of Preference Consistency and Survey Items’, Revista Internacional De Sociología, 70 (5), 45–64.
4.
BengtssonÅ. and ChristensenH. (2014) ‘Ideals and Action: Do Citizens' Patterns of Political Participation Correspond to Their Conceptions of Democracy?’, Government and Opposition. doi: 10.1017/gov.2014.29.
5.
BengtssonA. and MattilaM. (2009) ‘Direct Democracy and Its Critics: Support for Direct Democracy and “Stealth” Democracy in Finland’, West European Politics, 32 (5), 1031–48.
BowlerS.DonovanT. and KarpJ. (2007) ‘Enraged or Engaged? Preferences for Direct Citizen Participation in Affluent Democracies’, Political Research Quarterly, 60, 351–62.
8.
BrooksS.StasiakD. and ZyroT. (eds) (2012) Policy Expertise in Contemporary Democracies. Farnham: Ashgate.
9.
BudgeI. (1996) The New Challenge of Direct Democracy. London: Polity Press.
10.
CofféH. and MichelsA. (2014) ‘Education and Support for Representative, Direct and Stealth Democracy’, Electoral Studies, 35, 1–11.
11.
DaltonR.BürklinW. and DrummondA. (2001) ‘Public Opinion and Direct Democracy’, Journal of Democracy, 12 (4), 141–53.
12.
Díaz de RadaV. and NuñezA. (2008) Estudio de las Incidencias en la Investigación por Encuesta. Madrid: CIS.
13.
DonovanT. and KarpJ. A. (2006) ‘Popular Support for Direct Democracy’, Party Politics, 12 (5), 671–88.
14.
EvansM.StokerG. and NasirJ. (2013) How Do Australians Imagine Their Democracy?Canberra: ANZSOG Institute for Governance.
15.
FischerF. (1993) ‘Citizen Participation and the Democratization of Policy Expertise: From Theoretical Inquiry to Practical Cases’, Policy Sciences, 26 (1), 163–87.
16.
FontJ. and FernándezJ. L. (2014) ‘Who Supports Expert Governance?’. Paper presented at the Jornades de Comportament Polític, ICPS, Barcelona.
17.
FontJ.NavarroC.WojcieszakM. and AlarcónP. (2012) ‘¿Democracia sigilosa en España? Preferencias de la ciudadanía española sobre las formas decisión política y sus factores explicativos. Opiniones y Actitudes, 71, Madrid: CIS.
18.
GanglA. (2007) ‘Examining Citizens' Beliefs that Government Should Run Like Business’, Public Opinion Quarterly, 71 (4), 661–70.
19.
GanuzaE.García EspinP. and De MarcoS. (2013) ‘The Political Turn of Citizens: What Does Disaffection Mean in Spain?’. Paper presented at the ECPR Joint Sessions, Mainz.
20.
GastilJ. (2000) By Popular Demand: Revitalizing Representative Democracy through Deliberative Elections. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
21.
HibbingJ. and Theiss-MorseE. (2002) Stealth Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
22.
HuL. T. and BentlerP. (1999) ‘Cut of Criteria for Fit Indexes in Covariance Structure Analysis: Conventional Criteria versus New Alternatives’, Structural Equations Modeling, 6 (1), 1–55.
23.
HughesN. (2011) ‘“Young People Took to the Streets and All of a Sudden All of the Political Parties Got Old”: The 15M Movement in Spain’, Social Movement Studies, 10, 407–13.
24.
JacobsL. R.Lomax CookF. and Delli CarpiniM. (2009) Talking Together: Public Deliberation and Political Participation in America. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
25.
JohnP.SmithG. and StokerG. (2009) ‘Nudge Nudge, Think Think: Two Strategies for Changing Civic Behaviour’, Political Quarterly, 80, 361–70.
26.
JöreskogK. (1993) ‘Testing Structural Equations Models’, in BollenK. and LongS. J. (eds), Testing Structural Equation Models. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, pp. 294–316.
27.
McDonnellD. and ValbruzziM. (2014) ‘Defining and Classifying Technocrat-Led and Technocratic Governments’, European Journal of Political Research, 53 (4), 654–71.
28.
MokkenR. J. (1970) A Theory and Method of Scale Analysis. The Hague: Mouton.
29.
MoralesL. (2009) Joining Political Organisations. Colchester: ECPR Press.
30.
MuñozJ.RicoG. and AnduizaE. (2012) ‘Austerity Policies and Political Involvement: Evidence from a Panel Survey in Spain (2010–11)’. Paper presented at the Workshop ‘Change in Political Attitudes: Panels and Experiments', UAB.
31.
NavarroC. (2012) ‘Procesos y Confianza Política: ¿Quiénes Deben Ser Virtuosos?’, in FontJ.NavarroC.WojcieszakM. and AlarcónP. (eds), ‘¿Democracia sigilosa en España? Preferencias de la ciudadanía española sobre las formas decisión política y sus factores explicativos. Opiniones y Actitudes, 71, Madrid: CIS, pp. 83–98.
32.
NebloM. (2010) ‘Who Wants to Deliberate – And Why?’, American Political Science Review, 104 (3), 566–83.
33.
SatorraA. and BentleyP. (1990) ‘Model Conditions for Asymptotic Robustness in the Analysis of Linear Relations’, Computational Statistics and Data Analysis, 10, 235–49.
34.
SchumpeterJ. (1943) Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. London: Allen & Unwin.
35.
SchwartzN. (1999) ‘Self-Reports: How the Questions Shape the Answers’, American Psychologist, 54, 93–104.
36.
SmithG. (2009) Democratic Innovations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
37.
Van DethJ.MonteroJ. R. and WestholmA. (eds) (2007) Citizenship and Involvement in European Democracies. London: Routledge.
38.
WebbP. (2013) ‘Who is Willing to Participate? Dissatisfied Democrats, Stealth Democrats and Populists in the United Kingdom’, European Journal of Political Research, 52, 747–72.
39.
WebbP.BaleT. and TaggartP. (2010) ‘Deliberative versus Parliamentary Democracy in the UK: An Experimental Study’, SEI Working Paper 118.
40.
WojcieszakM. (2014) ‘Preferences for Political Decision-Making Processes and Issue Publics’, Public Opinion Quarterly. doi: 10.1093/poq/nfuo39. [Accessed 9 January 2015].
41.
ZallerJ. (1992) The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
