Are Voters Better Represented?
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials.
If you have previously obtained access with your personal account, Please log in.
If you previously purchased this article, Log in to Readcube.
You previously purchased this article on READCUBE_PURCHASE_DATE. Click on an option below to access.
Logged in as READCUBE_USER. Log out of ReadCube.
Abstract
Studies of political participation and representation often contend that elected officials respond more to the preferences of voters than those of nonvoters, but seldom test this claim. This is a critical assumption because if true, biases in who participates will lead to biased representation. Office holders might respond disproportionately to voters’ preferences because voters tend to select like‐minded representatives, voters tend to communicate their preferences more, and only voters can reelect representatives. We find that voter preferences predict the aggregate roll‐call behavior of Senators while nonvoter preferences do not. We also present evidence supporting the three explanations advanced to account for the preferential treatment of voters.
Number of times cited according to CrossRef: 16
- Emilee Booth Chapman, The Distinctive Value of Elections and the Case for Compulsory Voting, American Journal of Political Science, 63, 1, (101-112), (2018).
- John D. Griffin, Brian Newman and David W. Nickerson, A God of Vengeance and of Reward? Voters and Accountability, Legislative Studies Quarterly, 44, 1, (133-162), (2018).
- CORINNA KROEBER, Growing numbers, growing influence? A comparative study of policy congruence between parliaments and citizens of immigrant origin, European Journal of Political Research, 57, 4, (900-918), (2017).
- Patrick Flavin and William W. Franko, Government's Unequal Attentiveness to Citizens' Political Priorities, Policy Studies Journal, 45, 4, (659-687), (2016).
- Douglas R. Hess, Michael J. Hanmer and David W. Nickerson, Encouraging Local Compliance with Federal Civil Rights Laws: Field Experiments with the National Voter Registration Act, Public Administration Review, 76, 1, (165-174), (2015).
- David E. Broockman, Approaches to Studying Policy Representation, Legislative Studies Quarterly, 41, 1, (181-215), (2016).
- Caroline Mcevoy, The Role of Political Efficacy on Public Opinion in the European Union, JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 54, 5, (1159-1174), (2016).
- Jennifer Oser, Jan E. Leighley and Kenneth M. Winneg, Participation, Online and Otherwise: What's the Difference for Policy Preferences?, Social Science Quarterly, 95, 5, (1259-1277), (2014).
- Paul S. Martin and Michele P. Claibourn, Citizen Participation and Congressional Responsiveness: New Evidence that Participation Matters, Legislative Studies Quarterly, 38, 1, (59-81), (2013).
- William W. Franko, Political Inequality and State Policy Adoption: Predatory Lending, Children's Health Care, and Minimum Wage, Poverty & Public Policy, 5, 1, (88-114), (2013).
- John D. Griffin and Brian Newman, The Unequal Representation of Latinos and Whites, Journal of Politics, 69, 4, (1032-1046), (2007).
- COSTAS PANAGOPOULOS and DANIEL BERGAN, Contributions and Contributors in the 2004 Presidential Election Cycle, Presidential Studies Quarterly, 36, 2, (155-171), (2006).
- John D. Griffin and Michael Keane, Descriptive Representation and the Composition of African American Turnout, American Journal of Political Science, 50, 4, (998-1012), (2006).
- John D. Griffin, Electoral Competition and Democratic Responsiveness: A Defense of the Marginality Hypothesis, Journal of Politics, 68, 4, (911-921), (2006).
- THOMAS KURER, SILJA HÄUSERMANN, BRUNO WÜEST and MATTHIAS ENGGIST, Economic grievances and political protest, European Journal of Political Research, , (2018).
- Gabor Simonovits, Andrew M. Guess and Jonathan Nagler, Responsiveness without Representation: Evidence from Minimum Wage Laws in U.S. States, American Journal of Political Science, , (2018).
