Whether elected representatives should be responsive to the wishes of the majority of citizens
has been an issue often discussed from a normative perspective. This article shifts the focus by
looking at the determinants of support for responsiveness among citizens. Its core argument is
that attitudes towards responsiveness vary systematically depending on the policy gains an
individual can expect from a government that is responsive to the preferences of the majority
of citizens. The analysis of data from the European Social Survey and twenty-one countries
confirms these expectations. Individuals whose ideological stances are well reflected by the
incumbent government are less favourable to the idea that governments should be responsive
to the preferences of the majority, while one’s proximity to the ideological location of the
median citizen increases the odds of support for responsiveness. Self-interested attitudes are
found across a variety of European democracies.
