How issue ownership impacts responsibility attribution in countries with minority governments

In this study, we explore under what conditions the various actors in minority coalition governments are perceived as more or less responsible for policy outcomes. Using the 2022 budget negotiations between Norway’s two-party minority government and its informal support party as a case, we test whether voters attribute more responsibility to parties who “own” the issues that are particularly salient during the negotiations. We test our hypotheses with a 3 × 2 × 2 factorial vignette experiment. The results reveal that junior members and support parties are perceived as more responsible for policy outcomes when their issue ownership is emphasized in budget negotiations. This effect is amplified when voters are primed to consider policy influence. This has important strategic implications especially for smaller parties involved in coalition governing.