What kind of opposition do citizens want?

Tom Louwerse and Elina Zorina (2026) What kind of opposition do citizens want?, West European Politics, 49(5), 1151–1175.

Authors

Tom Louwerse

Elina Zorina

Published

May 2026

Doi

10.1080/01402382.2025.2512288

Abstract

Opposition parties play a crucial role in democracies. While scholars have extensively studied opposition behaviour and institutional powers, little is known about what citizens expect from opposition parties and how they evaluate these expectations being met. This study addresses this gap by examining citizens’ views on three key opposition roles - oversight, cooperation, and offering alternatives - and their perceived fulfilment across four countries: Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Based on a citizen survey, this study assesses how individual characteristics (democratic satisfaction, political interest, education) and institutional context are related to these views. Citizens across all four countries value cooperation. Preferences for the ‘alternative’ role vary between institutional settings. On the individual level, conflict-oriented and dissatisfied citizens value cooperation less, while those with higher education and political interest find oversight and cooperation more important.

This is an open access publication

This work was supported by the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (Grant Number: VI.Vidi.195.020).