A Field Experiment on the Effects of Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status on the Quality of Representation

• Author: Sarah Birch,Philip Habel
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/lsq.12230
• Published date: 01 August 2019
• Date: 01 August 2019

389

LEGISLATIVE STUDIES QUARTERLY, 44, 3, August 2019

DOI: 10.1111/lsq.12230

PHILIP HABEL

University of South Alabama

SARAH BIRCH

King’s College London

A Field Experiment on the Effects of

Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status

on the Quality of Representation

The principle of equal representation is the cornerstone of modern de-

mocracy, yet there have been concerns that the benefits of representation can

be skewed, advantaging some over others. We argue that elected officials will be

more responsive to constituents whom they perceive as more like themselves and

more likely to be politically active. We examine inequalities in representation in a

parliamentary democracy where, intrinsic to the institutional framework, there is

a long-standing reputation for serving constituent needs: the United Kingdom.

We also advance the literature by focusing on the expediency of responsiveness

and the helpfulness of response. Drawing on a field experiment, we find both an

overall high level of responsiveness and helpfulness but also biases affecting MP’s

responsiveness. Our findings raise important questions about equal access to

representation, even in a political system where constituency service is the norm

and expectation.

In modern representative democracies, the principle of

equality provides a fu ndamental normative underpinning for po-

litical institutions. All citizens are considered to have an equal

right to contribute to shaping the public goods that result from

policy processes, and all citizens can expect to benefit equally

from the outputs of the political system, with public services ad-

ministe red impartially. This is how equal repres entation is under-

stood. Yet a number of studies, particularly in the U.S. context,

have shown a disparity in responsiveness to certain groups or

sectors of society (Grose 2014). For example, in a series of stud-

ies, Butler (2014) finds that U.S. politicians are more likely to

respond to coethnic constituents, building on earlier work with

similar findings (Broockman 2013; Butler and Broockman 2011).

Building on these and other studies, we argue that legislator

© 2019 Washington University in St. L ouis

390Philip Habel and Sarah Birch

responsiveness to constituents’ personal concerns will not fully

adhere to the democ ratic norm of impartiality but wil l instead be

sensitive to two factors, one strategic and the other psychologi-

cal. Strategic considerations suggest that representatives should

be more responsive to constituents whom they perceive to be

politically active, as well as to constituents on whom the provi-

sion of servic e may have a persuasive ef fect vis-á-vis mobi lization

and even vote choice (Mayhew 1974; Searing 1994). Psychological

theory indicates that politicians may exhibit ingroup bias in that

that may be more likely to respond to those citizens with whom

they share demographic characteristics. We go beyond previous

work in several important ways. First, we disentangle the impact

of ethnicity and socioeconomic status on legislator responsive-

ness. By focusing on a context where class and ethnicity are both

highly salient political cleavages, we are e asily able to signal both

characteristics and to ascertain their impact separately and in-

teractively. Second, we provide a more thorough assessment of

the quality of legislator responsiveness than has been carr ied out

in previous studies by examining overall responsiveness together

with the temporal dynamics of responsiveness (through an event

history framework), as well as the helpfulness of responses. We

look at to whom Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom

respond, how fast they respond, and how helpful are their re-

sponses. Third, we focus on a parliamentary system. Given that

most democracies are of the parliamentary type, research in this

context is especially needed to understand the broader dynamics

of democratic representation. We do, however, examine a system

where the electoral i nstitution resembles that of the United States

and thus where legislators have a greater incentive to cultivate

a personal vote than in other parliamentary systems, and where

responsiveness to c onstituent needs is well-establ ished and firmly

grounded in the culture of the legislature.

We adopt a field-experiment approach, using emails to con-

tact MPs in the United Kingdom for help with a problem, but

varying randomly the occupation and putative ethnicity of the

emailer. The strategic hypothesis is by the emailer’s occupation,

either a professional position of an ac countant or a working-cla ss

position of a “builder” (construction worker). Despite a degree

of class dealignment over the past several decades, the U.K.

party system remains strongly class based, making the occupa-

tion of the constituent a relevant marker of electoral behavior.

Ingroup bias can be exam ined both through the occ upation of the

391A Field Experiment on Representation in the United Kingdom

constituent—where members of Parliament may feel a stronger

affinity to those in more professional careers—and by the osten-

sible ethnicity of the emailer. Our findings point to a high rate

of responsiveness and a high level of helpfulness, much greater

than previous studies have shown. But we also find evidence of

inequalities in politicians’ provisions of constituent service, par-

ticularly in differences in the efficiency of responsiveness based

on the occupation and the ethnicity of the emailer. Our theoreti-

cal and empirical contribution overall speaks to broad and im-

portant concer ns about representation in democratic systems.

Responsiveness in Modern Democracies

Recent rises in levels of economic inequality in many de-

mocracies have prompted concerns that the benefits of represen-

tation may be skewed toward certain sectors of society. We focus

on the service provided by elected representatives to individual

constituents who contact them, as have a number of recent stud-

ies in the United State s (Broockman 2013; Butler 2014; Butler and

Broockman 2011; White, Nathan, and Faller 2015) and to a lesser

extent, comparatively (Distelhorst and Hou 2014; Meng, Pan,

and Yang 2017; Vaccari 2014). Helping citizens deal with prob-

lems and issues that arise is an important form of representation

that elected officials deliver, offering a useful means of gauging

whether the democratic p olitical process is effect ive in treating all

citizens equally. Moreover, focusing on the eff iciency and quality

of the provision of that service is important. Constituents often-

times raise concerns that are timely in nature, and if politicians

and their staff wait too long before intervening, any assistance

offered will be less effectual.

The job of a representative elected to a legislative assembly

is a complex and time-intensive one, including responsibilities of

care to the constitu ents who elected him or her. There is a long tra-

dition—particularly in polities with single-member district elec-

toral systems—of representatives taking on casework stemming

from issues or personal matters voiced by those in their districts

(Cain, Ferejohn, and Fiorina 1984, 1987; Fenno 1978; Norton and

Wood 1993; Searing 1994). Such service affords elected officials

advantages beyond fulfilling a duty; providing casework can be

advantageous electorally as well (Cain et al. 1987). Helping citi-

zens deal with problems can foster goodwill and contribute to a

reputation for competence. For citizens of the same party, such