RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Income, Ideology, and Representation
JF RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
FD Russell Sage Foundation
SP 33
OP 50
DO 10.7758/RSF.2016.2.7.03
VO 2
IS 7
A1 Chris Tausanovitch
YR 2016
UL http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/2/7/33.abstract
AB Do legislators represent the rich better than they represent the poor? Recent work provides mixed support for this proposition. I test the hypothesis of differential representation using a data set on the political preferences of 318,537 individuals. Evidence of differential representation in the House of Representatives is weak. Support for differential representation is stronger in the Senate. In recent years, representation has occurred primarily through the selection of a legislator from the appropriate party. Although the preferences of higher-income constituents account for more of the variation in legislator voting behavior, higher-income constituents also account for much more of the variation in district preferences. In light of the low level of overall responsiveness, differential responsiveness appears small.