Nonelectoral Motivations to Represent Marginalized Groups in a Democracy: Evidence from an Unelected Legislature

Abstract

Do legislators from marginalized groups have non‐electoral motivations to represent ‘their’ group? Previous observational and experimental research on this question focuses on elected politicians and is thus unable to isolate representation absent a desire to win re‐election. We address this limitation by observing the decision‐making of appointed legislators who, by institutional design, have no personal re‐election motive. We administered to Canadian senators and their staff a novel survey instrument that captured how they prioritized learning about the policy opinions of various groups of citizens. We show that senators’ group identities—specifically, those associated with racial and regional minorities—influenced which group’s views they chose to learn about. The findings refine the central conclusion of the literature and have implications for the study not only of unelected legislators but also of elected officials in settings where public monitoring is weak.