ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the effects of the financial crisis on representation linkages between deputies and voters in Portugal. The question is whether the movement of the right-wing parties further to the right in terms of their policy agenda is reflected in the attitudes of deputies. If so, we must ask if the same trends are being observed among voters? That is, can we detect a leadership effect? Has the financial crisis resulted in greater differences between deputies and voters, accentuating the signs of a crisis in representation? To provide a framework for this chapter we rely on theories of political representation and ‘leadership democracy’.
