Does Less Income Mean Less Representation? / Eric J. Brunner, Stephen L. Ross, Ebonya L. Washington.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brunner, Eric J.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Ross, Stephen L.

Washington, Ebonya L.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w16835.

NBER working paper series no. w16835

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2011.

Summary:

We assemble a novel dataset of matched legislative and constituent votes and demonstrate that less income does not mean less representation. We show 1) The opinions of high and low income voters are highly correlated; the legislator's vote often reflects the desire of both. 2) 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. 3) Differences in representation by income are largely explained by the correlation between constituent income and party affiliation.

Notes:

Print version record

February 2011.