Position-Taking as Democratic Representation

37 Pages Posted: 13 Jun 2009

See all articles by Tom S. Clark

Tom S. Clark

Emory University - Department of Political Science

Date Written: June 12, 2009

Abstract

A fundamental question in the study of American government concerns the extent to which our democracy is representative. Students have explored whether governmental decision-makers respond to the preferences of their constituents. Most studies have asked whether the content of laws that are enacted reflects public preferences. I argue that beyond policy responsiveness, representation takes place through position-taking by elected representatives. Position-taking is a form of public posturing that can convey information about constituent opinion to other decision-makers. I outline a simple formal logic for legislative position-taking. I then show that a correlation between public opinion and bill sponsorship, net of a legislator’s preferences, implies that less well-informed elites can learn about public opinion by observing position-taking. Original evidence on state-level opinion and bill sponsorship is used to demonstrate the effect of public opinion on position-taking. The evidence indicates that public opinion is given voice in governmental decision-making and that elites who want to learn about public opinion can do so by observing symbolic position-taking by members of the House.

Keywords: representation, position-taking, public opinion, legislative politics

Suggested Citation

Clark, Tom S., Position-Taking as Democratic Representation (June 12, 2009). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1418503 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1418503

Tom S. Clark (Contact Author)

Emory University - Department of Political Science ( email )

Atlanta, GA 30322
United States
404-727-6615 (Phone)

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