The Accuracy of Leader Perceptions of Constituency Views

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the theory and methodology of the study of the accuracy with which leaders perceive the views of their constituents. To that end, a review of the social science literature particularly relevant to this topic has been conducted. Political scientists have focused on perceptual accuracy as an end product, measured by the agreement between perceivers' estimates and the object parameters, while other social scientists devoted much research to a personality trait, empathic ability, that is but one determinant of perceptual accuracy. The review of several studies by political scientists focuses on two aspects of their methodology: the perceptual task of the perceiver, and the assessment of perceptual accuracy. Representation role theory has been applied in a legislative context with unexpected results, and an explanation of these findings is offered, based on the theory of cognitive balance, a theory of general utility in the continuing study.

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