Welche Rolle spielen Wahlversprechen für die Wahlentscheidung?

Election pledges form an important element of democratic election campaigns. Their role as a link between the electorate and government action becomes clear in the promissory representation approach. Election pledges have a dual function here: from a prospective perspective, voters should vote for the party whose election pledges come closest to their political ideas. From a retrospective perspective, parties that break their election pledges should be punished at the next election by losing votes. However, the question arises as to whether the conditions for fulfilling this role are met and whether election pledges actually have an effect on voting decisions.