Whose Preferences Count? Unequal Democracy in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

This panel is interested in how policy preferences of citizens are channelled into political institutions. In particular, it focuses on political inequalities that may arise from this process. Democracy draws its legitimacy from the idea that the political power belongs to the people. All citizens, however, do not have the same interests and different societal groups are likely to have divergent political opinions. At the same time, these groups vary in their ability to voice their message, which potentially results in inequalities in the way their preferences are reflected in political institutions. The panel seeks to enlighten the issue of unequal political representation by bringing together studies that address issues of opinion formation and political participation of marginalized societal groups as well as papers that focus on the responses of political institutions to the wishes of specific groups.

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