Substantive Representation Research Articles

Physicians in congress: Professional backgrounds and legislative effectiveness

AbstractDespite a long history of physician service in the U.S. Congress, scholars have not yet provided a systematic study of physician members of Congress (PMCs) behavior once elected. Using publicly available data, the authors built a database of all PMCs, including years served, gender, and party affiliation since 1921, merging these data with information on PMC lawmaking activities since 1973. We show that, relative to other members, PMCs are substantially more likely to sponsor and have their health policies passed relative to other members. Further, PMCs are 66% more legislatively effective on health policy matters relative to other members. We show that these health policy effectiveness gains are isolated to health policy making and are not driven by committee assignments or ideological moderation. This work expands on the literatures related to the descriptive and substantive representation of occupational and economic class groupings as well as lawmaking effectiveness.

Pathways to Substantive Representation: Policy Congruence and Policy Knowledge Among Canadian Local Politicians

Pathways to Substantive Representation: Policy Congruence and Policy Knowledge Among Canadian Local Politicians

Shared Class, Shared Opinion? Policy Preference Congruence Between Citizens and Legislators

AbstractRecent studies have shown that policymakers and policy outcomes in advanced democracies are biased against the preferences of less affluent and working‐class citizens. One reason for this inequality in substantive representation might be that most policymakers are well‐off themselves. In this paper, we explore the effect of shared class background on the congruence between legislators' and citizens' policy preferences. To do so, we rely on original data from surveys conducted among citizens and active legislators in Switzerland. We focus on six economic and welfare policy proposals where we find differences in opinion between social classes. When we match legislators' and citizens' opinion in a one‐to‐many relationship, we find that social class matters more for lower social classes than for the more affluent, at least for some policy proposals.

The “Magic” Number: Women’s Critical Mass and Substantive Representation in Angola

The “Magic” Number: Women’s Critical Mass and Substantive Representation in Angola

Politics without Presence? The Symbolic Representation of Trans People in Germany and the Netherlands

Abstract Historically, trans people have been excluded from politics. Despite political under representation, trans interests increasingly appear on the political agenda in the Netherlands and Germany. In 2021, trans women were elected to the Dutch and German parliaments for the first time. However, increased trans visibility is accompanied by backlash and transphobia. The political representation of trans people does not follow a familiar pattern from elected descriptive representatives to increased substantive representation of interests. What mechanisms shape the political representation of trans people? We argue that symbolic representation shapes possibilities for descriptive and substantive representation of trans people. The analysis of symbolic representation of transpeople draws on a combination of 1) qualitative text analysis of Dutch and German parliamentary documents, research reports, and trans activists’ publications and 2) in-depth interviews with trans andcisgender representatives, candidates, and activists. The findings demonstrate how political spaces are not only gendered, but also cisgendered and heteronormative.

Pork Barrel and Identity Politics: Explaining a Minority Party’s Electoral Success in Lithuania

Abstract Our article describes the lifecycle of Lithuania’s Electoral Action of Poles–Christian Families Alliance (LLRA-KŠS) party that has been a part of country’s political landscape for near 30 years. Despite its seemingly ethnic program, the party has a poor track record for delivering on its electoral promises. Yet, it has been continuously supported by the majority of Polish-speakers in Lithuania. The background of the nationalizing state, which encourages the party elites to conflate substantive representation with the signposting of ethnic identity in party politics, offers one of the reasons for the LLRA-KŠS’s electoral success. Although the party effectively consolidated its regional electorate, it came to control service delivery to their ethnic constituency by engaging in pork barrel politics. Poor performance in recent national and municipal elections put this strategy to bond with its voters into question, casting doubt on the LLRA-KŠS’s ability to survive as an ethnic party in the long term.

Power Over Presence: Women’s Representation in Comprehensive Peace Negotiations and Gender Provision Outcomes

The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) sector assumes increasing the number of women involved in peace negotiations drives better outcomes for local women. However, empirical support for this assumption is inconsistent. This article tests how power alters the relationship between women’s formal (Track 1) involvement in peace negotiations and the inclusion of women-specific provisions in peace agreements. Using an original dataset comprised of 2,299 Track 1 delegates involved in 116 comprehensive peace agreements finalized between 1990 and 2021, I find women’s involvement in peace negotiations is positively correlated to comprehensive agreements containing provisions for women. However, this correlation is dependent on women holding positions of power—simply having women in the room is insufficient. This article offers a novel quantitative approach to WPS studies, provides nuance to theories linking descriptive and substantive representation, and casts doubt on the longstanding assumption that increasing women’s involvement inherently enhances gender equality.

Political Inequality

Inequality in political participation and influence has strongly increased in recent decades, breeding economic inequality. In this review, we focus on three aspects of political inequality: the increasing concentration of both political and charitable donations, the growing gap in descriptive representation, and the persistent lack of substantive representation. Based on the existing literature as well as on novel evidence, we relate these aspects to the recent widening of turnout inequality. We then examine novel forms of participation—e.g., the rise of small donors in the United States—and the efficiency of policies aimed at improving representation. Finally, we discuss new avenues for research.

Women's political participation in the United States after women's suffrage: women's representation in the legislature of the house of representatives and the senate

Historically, women have confronted formidable barriers to political participation, entrenched by patriarchal norms. Despite the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in the United States, which granted women voting rights, substantive representation remains elusive. This study investigates the persistent gender gap in political representation, focusing on the 113th congressional elections. Employing liberal feminist theory and democratic principles, it aims to elucidate the urgency of addressing women's underrepresentation in legislative bodies. Through literature review and quantitative analysis of electoral data, this research seeks to uncover the impact of electoral systems on women's political engagement. Results reveal stark contrasts between countries like the US and Rwanda, emphasizing the critical role of electoral mechanisms in fostering gender parity. By illuminating these disparities, this study underscores the imperative for policy interventions to ensure equitable political participation for women, thereby advancing democratic ideals and societal progress.

Regional ambassadors or state agents? Representing Welsh interests in the British Parliament and Cabinet

ABSTRACT Despite devolution, the United Kingdom possesses no mechanism to represent its four nations at the state level. Consequently, some peripheral actors use their state representative positions to ‘stand up’ for Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. This paper explores this paradox by focussing on the descriptive and substantive representation of Wales in the Commons and the Cabinet between 1945 and 2019. We demonstrate that only one-third of Welsh backbenchers still adopt a role of ‘regional ambassador’ and that Welsh ministers tend to adopt the role of ‘state agent’. This research ratifies the radical disconnection between central and sub-state politics since devolution.

Does the level of descriptive representation of women have any consequences for policy spending?

This study examines the potential link between descriptive and substantive representation. More precisely, we examine whether a higher level of political descriptive representation of women improves their substantive representation in terms of policy spending in areas that are known to be prioritized by women. We use data from a pooled sample of all of the 290 Swedish municipalities covering the years from 1994 to 2021. We make at least four contributions to the research field: we use multiple measures of (1) women’s political representation and (2) policy spending, and we also (3) test assumptions at the subnational level, where policy spending matters most, and (4) assess them over a longer period of time, stretching across almost three decades. In contrast to our expectations, the findings show that the descriptive representation of women has no influence on policy spending; instead, economic and demographical aspects dominate.

Gender politics in Costa Rica: from descriptive to substantive representation

ABSTRACT Costa Rica is a democratic exemplar, having maintained a critical mass of female legislators over two decades and approached gender parity in political offices; thus, it is a useful context for examining theories of change for gender representation. We use process-tracing to track the evolution of descriptive representation and examine when and how critical actors affect the legislative process in Costa Rica. We evaluate the extent to which critical mass representation has advanced substantive gender representation—the adoption of legislation favorable to women’s interests—through case studies of the 2020 law on street sexual harassment, and the 2022 law on violence against women in politics. We find that greater descriptive representation provides a pivot point for substantive representation, although critical actors in the form of key legislators and women’s organizations provide the necessary agency for legislative successes. The case study contributes to both theories and methods for understanding how descriptive representation and substantive representation interact in the democratic legislative process.

Black representation and the popular legitimacy of the Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve has started paying closer attention to matters of race over the last decade. The central bank has increasingly emphasized the distinct economic challenges facing racial minorities, and its leadership has become more racially diverse. This paper applies theories of descriptive and substantive representation to understand how these shifts are likely to impact the popular legitimacy of the Federal Reserve. We hypothesize that greater Black descriptive and substantive representation improves Black Americans' confidence in the Federal Reserve. We also anticipate that political ideology moderates how white Americans respond to the increases in Black representation within the Federal Reserve, with white conservatives responding less favorably to these changes than more left-leaning whites. Analysis of data from two original survey experiments with separate samples of 3000 Americans, split evenly between Black and white respondents, supports our expectations. Information about substantive and descriptive representation at the Fed has a strong impact on Black Americans' perceptions of the institution. We also find that these changes at the Fed boost white liberals' views of the Fed but have little impact on white conservatives’ attitudes about the central bank.

Political inequality

Abstract The rise of economic inequality in the UK over the past four decades raises serious questions about the state of political equality in Britain. In this article, we analyse changes in political equality from voter participation to voting behaviour to the descriptive and substantive representativeness of Parliament. We find that voter participation in the electoral process has become substantially more unequal since the 1960s but that traditional geographic patterns of voting, where wealthier constituencies typically voted Conservative, have almost entirely vanished. Descriptively, Parliament has become more reflective in demographic and socio-economic terms of the population. In terms of substantive representation, policymaking in Britain has been more responsive to the interests of older homeowners than younger, less wealthy groups. Almost all British citizens nonetheless feel less represented by politicians and policymaking than they did several decades ago.

Sound Allyship? Straight Politicians and LGBQ Representation in Canada

How do heterosexual politicians who are allies perform LGBQ representation? Through the eyes of Canadian LGBQ parliamentarians, I uncover some heterosexual politicians’ motivations for becoming allies and some of their concrete practices in this regard. I also identify some criticisms voiced by LGBQ parliamentarians in relation to their heterosexual colleagues’ activities of LGBQ representation. Straight politicians become allies for ideological and lived experience reasons. However, beyond best intentions, heterosexual allyship is not without its critics among LGBQ parliamentarians. In conclusion, I contemplate some of the contributions that this article can make to substantive representation and argue for further work to address the voices and experiences of straight parliamentarians on their allyship activities of LGBQ representation.

Race, legislative speech, and symbolic representation in Congress

AbstractWe know little about the extent to which racial minorities are symbolically represented by members of Congress. This stands in contrast to a wealth of research analyzing the extent to which minorities are substantively and descriptively represented. This article provides the most comprehensive analysis of symbolic representation to date. Using data on legislators’ speech from 105,875 newsletters and 620,838 floor speeches, I find that White legislators of both parties are more likely to symbolically represent Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians if those groups are more populous in their constituency. However, these effects only hold cross‐sectionally; using a difference‐in‐differences setup from redistricting shocks, I find that there is little within‐legislator variation in speech patterns as their constituencies change. Lastly, I show that, unlike on the symbolic dimension, legislators’ substantive representation is not influenced by group size. I conclude that White legislators are symbolically responsive to their constituents’ identities in their speech patterns.

Representation of women and people of color on nonprofit boards and CEO gender and race

PurposeThis study examines how the representation of women and people of color on nonprofit boards relates to CEO gender and race.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses the 2020 data of 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in a Southeastern U.S. state. It employs the seemingly unrelated bivariate probit regression to simultaneously estimate the two equations for CEO gender and race.FindingsThe findings show that the proportion of board members of color is positively associated with having a CEO of color and a female CEO. The proportion of female board members is positively associated with having a female CEO, but not with having a CEO of color.Practical implicationsThe lack of a positive connection between women’s representation on the board and having a CEO of color may be attributable to the pervasive and systematic Whiteness in nonprofit leadership. The findings suggest that nonprofit boards reflect on the current executive hiring policies and practices to address existing racial biases or barriers.Originality/valueThis study’s findings reveal that the descriptive representation of women and people of color in the governing board is closely linked to their substantive representation in the form of selecting a woman or a person of color as the CEO. The findings also suggest an interconnection between the representation of people of color on the board and having a female CEO. However, women’s representation on the board is not related to having a CEO of color.

Amy Coney Barrett is Not Enough: How Descriptive and Substantive Representation Shape Trust and Legitimacy of the Federal Courts

Public trust and perceptions of institutional legitimacy are vital to the functioning of the federal court system, and recent work challenges the long-standing belief that these attitudes are relatively stable in the populace. We posit that one threat to perceptions of trust and legitimacy is the lack of representation for women in the federal judiciary. Using a series of experiments, we show that, while women desire descriptive representation, this is an insufficient condition for preserving support for the institution. Substantive representation on issues critical to women leads to significantly increased trust and legitimacy and lowered perceptions of institutional bias among women. While female judges may bring their own social identities to bear in their decision-making, our work suggests that efforts to diversify the federal judiciary, while important, are unlikely to bolster public support for the courts if the new judges and justices fail to substantively represent the communities of interest.

Women’s issues, critical actors and the media: substantive representation of women and gendered media coverage in South Korea

The article investigates whether media coverage varies for male and female legislators with regards to their activities in promoting women’s interests. To test this, 30 key women’s-issue-promoting legislators in South Korea are selected, primarily based on their legislative significance within a women’s-issue bill co-sponsorship network between 2004 and 2016, and their various substantive representation efforts are analysed by examining 45 news outlets. Findings reveal that while receiving less media coverage than their male counterparts overall, female legislators have higher odds of receiving a more focused spotlight concerning women’s-issue-promotion efforts. However, the gendered media coverage was only driven by women’s issues with strong stereotypically feminine policy characteristics, for example, abortion, contraception and sexual harassment, and not by those with both feminine and masculine policy characteristics, such as childcare support and maternity leave. The article demonstrates the importance of media-bias conditionality and thus calls for a more nuanced approach to be taken in future research.

Single ladies and freedom of speech: gendered explanations for, and effects of, violence in politics

Violence towards elected representatives violates the personal integrity and freedom of representation of the municipal officeholders, thus potentially harming democracy at large. An original survey of Danish municipal council members’ experience of psychological, sexual and physical violence shows that two thirds have experienced at least one of the five types of psychological violence enquired about, while a third have experienced sexual and physical violence, respectively. More violence is experienced by women, the younger, those living on their own and those with larger TV exposure and social media visibility. However, except for sexual violence and being single, gender does not interact with these variables. Turning to the effect of violence, whether representatives feel that they have freedom of speech is negatively correlated with their experience of psychological and sexual violence. In the case of sexual violence, the effect is gendered. In sum, violence experience is skewed and may harm both descriptive and substantive representation.