The Voice of the Absent? The Link Between Descriptive and Substantive Representation of the Working Class in Western Europe.
Recent research has revealed a considerable representation gap disadvantaging the lower social class in the political process. However, we know little about the underlying mechanisms of this bias or the measures that could compensate for it. Combining cross-national data from a general population su...
| Publicado en: | Political Studies Vol. 72; no. 2; pp. 527 - 551 |
|---|---|
| Autor principal: | |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Sage Publications Inc.
May2024
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=177037357&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 177037357 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00323217 PSZ jtl: Political Studies issn: 00323217 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: May2024 vid: 72 iid: 2 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. artinfo: ui: 177037357 10.1177/00323217221126668 ppf: 527 ppct: 24 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T db: hlh ui: 177037357 – @attributes: type: P db: hlh ui: 177037357 tig: atl: The Voice of the Absent? The Link Between Descriptive and Substantive Representation of the Working Class in Western Europe. aug: au: Hahn, Caroline affil: GESIS—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Mannheim, Germany su: Western Europe Working class Political elites Social classes Equality Political parties Representative government sug: subj: Working class Political elites Social classes Equality Political parties Representative government Western Europe Political Organizations keyword: congruence descriptive and substantive representation parliamentary candidates political parties working class congruence descriptive and substantive representation parliamentary candidates political parties working class ab: Recent research has revealed a considerable representation gap disadvantaging the lower social class in the political process. However, we know little about the underlying mechanisms of this bias or the measures that could compensate for it. Combining cross-national data from a general population survey and an elite-level survey, the present article addresses this knowledge deficit by looking at one potential determinant of working-class underrepresentation: the unequal composition of parliaments. Building on arguments for descriptive representation, I argue that members of the working class experience similar living situations and life chances that form their preferences. Consequently, working-class politicians may be better suited to representing working-class views. The results confirm lower congruence levels between the political elite and working-class citizens. However, class-based preference gaps among politicians are relatively small, and politicians' social class appears to have a limited impact on compensating for the representational inequality of the working class. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|