2008 ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops RENNES APRIL 08

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1 2008 ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops RENNES APRIL 08 Application for the workshop The Numbers We Use, the World We See: Evaluating Cross-National Datasets in Comparative Politics Directors: Cas Mudde, Andreas Schedler How best to measure political (dis)satisfaction? The challenge of indicators in the measurement of political support Chiara Facello Istituto di Scienze Umane (SUM) Florence Italy In the past decade scholars have found an increasing amount of empirical evidence that citizen dissatisfaction is growing in established democracies. Although support for democracy and the democratic principles as such has risen to historical heights, support for representative democratic institutions has declined dramatically. We should be able to measure accurately this important aspect of democracy. (Dis)satisfaction with democracy is frequently used as an indicator for political support in comparative survey research. There does not exist a consensus, however, on how this concept should be measured in a reliable manner: The European Social Survey (ESS), World Value Survey (WVS), and Eurobarometer all use different questions and response categories. The evidence suggest to consider the concept as multidimensional, but, in line with previous methodological research, we recognize a gap between the conceptual assessment and the empirical sphere. Therefore, in this paper we investigate across the different items in the three surveys whether indicators are a consistent tool to grab this multifaceted realty. Based on the last wave of Italian National Electoral Study (ITANES 2006) we question the validity of these measurement in order to assess how best to measure political (dis)satisfaction by comparing the core standard of measurement (question wording, operationalization, level of measurement, temporal consistency in terms of sampling, validity, reliability, replicability). This paper addresses the themes of the workshop in several ways. It picks up the main question guiding the workshop by focusing on the question whether the numers we use to make inferences are a valid index of the reality. Since we make comparison among different kinds of survey, cross-nation data set (ESS, WVS) and national survey (ITANES), we can discuss the wealth of diverse surveys to test the assumption that we can make valid comparisons between the results obtained by surveys conducted in different countries. Curriculum Vitae et Studiorum Personal Data: Born: July 31, 1979 Nationality: Italian. Office address: Palazzo Strozzi Piazza Strozzi, Firenze (Italy) Home address: Piazza Zama Roma

2 Phone: / Mobile Phone: chiara.face@libero.it Current Position: Ph.D. candidate in Political Science (concluding in September 2008) at the centre of advanced studies Istituto di Studi Umanistici (Florence). Title of dissertation: The Dissatisfied Electors. Italians in a Comparative Perspective, Academic supervisor: Prof.Leonardo Morlino Education: September 2005 Enrolled in doctoral programme in political science with full scholarship at Istituto Scienze Umane, Firenze Courses taken: Political Theory (two slots), Research Design, Democratic Quality, The Approaches in Political Science (two slots), International Relations Theory, The Policies of the European Union, The Institutions of the European Union, Theories on Organizations and Bureaucratic Behavior, Comparative Analysis of Political Institutions, The Analysis of Political Communication, Parties and Interest Groups, Elections and Political Behavior, Quantitative Methodology, Public Policies, Applied Comparative Methods, Democratic Theory, Qualitative Methods. Credits: 108 October 2004 Accepted at the doctoral program in political science at University of Florence (renunciation for incompatibility of roles). July 2004 Advanced University Degree (Master equivalent) in Political Science (with distinction) at University of Roma Tre; field of study: international politics; dissertation on The Italian political Culture, Tutor:Pietro Grilli di Cortona. July 1999 High school diploma (classical studies) Further Education: June-Sep.2007 ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Method in Social Research at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA) Courses taken: Regression Analysis II: Linear Models Scaling and Dimensional Analysis Longitudinal Analysis Missing data Data mining Statistical computing

3 May 2007 July 2006 Participation as a definer at political theory workshop in Hyperpolitics: an Interactive Dictionary with supervision of Prof. Mauro Calise, Anacapri,Naples Oslo Summer School in Comparative Social Science Studies with a course in Democratic Attitudes, Democratic Culture, Democratic Systems held by Prof. C. Welzel. 2002/2003 The Socrates-Erasmus student at Leiden (Netherlands) University where I took the following courses: - Introduction to International Relations and Organizations - Current Issues of International Relations - European Integration - Comparative Gender Issues in public policy Grants and Awards: Graduate Fellowship, Doctoral Program in Political Science, Istituto Scienze Umane, Firenze 2007 Young Scholar, ICPSR activities Summer School sponsored The Socrates-Erasmus Fellowship Computer software: Microsoft Office package (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Publisher, OneNote) SPSS program for statistical analysis and basic knowledge of other package (SAS, STATA) Field of Interest: Political attitudes Citizen Participation Public Opinion Methods and techniques of social research Research Experience: 2007 present From old to new. The role of authoritarian legacies in European democracies financed by Italian Ministry of University and Research.

4 A research on the role of authoritarian legacies into the process of democratization, institutional learning and change in European democracies. Conduct by Department of International Studies, University of Roma Tre. Project director: Pietro Grilli di Cortona Other Academic Experience: 2005-now Teaching Assistant in political science, comparative politics, democracy studies at University of Roma Tre 2007 Seminar held at Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane(Florence) on Citizens and Democracy in the programme organized by Prof.Franco Cardini Publication: CAMMINARE SULLE SPALLE DEI GIGANTI: IL CONTRIBUTO DI DAVID EASTON in Rivista di Studi Politici (on PRESS) TRUST definition in Hyperpolitics: an Interactive Dictionary (ongoing) Conference Presentation: Since 2005 I attended several visits of conferences including: La cultura politica italiana: un approccio multidimensionale delivered at Italian Society of Political Science Cagliari, of September, 2005 The democratic (in)satisfaction: is italy a deviant case? delivered at ECPR Graduate Conference University of ESSEX, 6-9 September, 2006 Una mappa dell insoddisfazione politica in Italia: isole controcorrente? Delivered at Italian Society of Political Science at Bologna, September, 2006 Cittadini od elettori? la sostenibilità della democrazia: l Italia in prospettiva comparata delivered at Italian Graduate Conference in Settignano (FI) 6-9 Giugno 2007 Membership Associations: - Member of the Italian Society of Political Science (SISP) - Member of the SISP standing group of Quality of Democracy - Member of the ECPR standing group on Regionalism References Pietro Grilli di Cortona Professor of Political Science, Director of the Department of International Studies Università Roma Tre, Political Science Faculty, Via Gabriello Chiabrera Roma, grillidc@uniroma3.it, grillidc@libero.it

5 Leonardo Morlino Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane (SUM) Palazzo Strozzi, Piazza degli Strozzi Firenze,