Does Less Income Mean Less Representation?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Brunner, Eric; Ross, Stephen L.; Washington, Ebonya
• 署名单位: University System of Georgia; Georgia State University; University of Connecticut; Yale University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.5.2.53
• 发表日期: 2013
• 页码: 53-76
• 关键词: voter preferences; POLICY; Reelection; state

摘要

We assemble a novel dataset of matched legislative and constituent votes and demonstrate that less income does not mean less representation. We show: (i) The opinions of high- and low-income voters are highly correlated; the legislator's vote often reflects the desire of both. (ii) What differences in representation by income exist vary by legislator party. Republicans more often vote the will of their higher income over their lower income constituents; Democratic legislators do the reverse. (iii) Differences in representation by income are largely explained by the correlation between constituent income and party affiliation.