The Winner-Loser Gap in Satisfaction with Democracy Over Time: Evidence from a Swedish citizen panel

Abstract

Several studies have demonstrated a gap in political support between electoral winners and losers. This research has generated a large stock of knowledge about the causes and effects of this winner-loser gap. Due to the use of cross-section survey data, however, we know little about the consisten-cy of the winner-loser gap over time. Drawing on a unique Swedish panel survey this study investi-gates the stability of the winner-loser gap among Swedish voters over an electoral cycle. The anal-yses demonstrate a substantial consistency of the gap over time also when controlling for other determinants. The winner-loser gap seems to be a stable phenomenon rather than a short-lived election effect. The results are robust to different specifications and statistical techniques