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When the Whole is Greater Than the Sum of its Parts: On The Concept and Measurement of Populist Attitudes and Other Multi-dimensional Constructs
[journal article]
Abstract Multidimensional concepts are non-compensatory when higher values on one component cannot offset lower values on another. Thinking of the components of a multidimensional phenomenon as non-compensatory rather than substitutable can have wide-ranging implications, both conceptually and empirically. T... view more
Multidimensional concepts are non-compensatory when higher values on one component cannot offset lower values on another. Thinking of the components of a multidimensional phenomenon as non-compensatory rather than substitutable can have wide-ranging implications, both conceptually and empirically. To demonstrate this point, we focus on populist attitudes that feature prominently in contemporary debates about liberal democracy. Given similar established public opinion constructs, the conceptual value of populist attitudes hinges on its unique specification as an attitudinal syndrome, which is characterized by the concurrent presence of its non-compensatory concept subdimensions. Yet this concept attribute is rarely considered in existing empirical research. We propose operationalization strategies that seek to take the distinct properties of non-compensatory multidimensional concepts seriously. Evidence on five populism scales in 12 countries reveals the presence and consequences of measurement-concept inconsistencies. Importantly, in some cases, using conceptually sound operationalization strategies upsets previous findings on the substantive role of populist attitudes.... view less
Keywords
populism; political attitude; public opinion; democracy; conception of democracy; international comparison
Classification
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Free Keywords
Giovanni Sartori; Concept formation; Democratic backsliding; Reflective latent variables; composite indices; GLES
Document language
English
Publication Year
2020
Page/Pages
p. 356-374
Journal
American Political Science Review, 114 (2020) 2
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055419000807
ISSN
1537-5943
Status
Preprint; peer reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
With the permission of the rights owner, this publication is under open access due to a (DFG-/German Research Foundation-funded) national or Alliance license.