Unequal Responsiveness to Rich and Poor in Comparative Perspective

A core question in the study of representation is to what extent the ideal of political equality is undermined by the existence of economic inequality. In recent years, both comparative and single-country studies have shown that economic inequality produces unequal representation in many advanced democracies. However, we still know little about variation in unequal representation between countries and in particular about which political and institutional features of a country produce a more equal representation of rich and poor. This paper contributes to the literature by exploring and explaining cross-country variation in unequal representation. It does so by linking public opinion data (gathered from the ISSP and CSES) to welfare state policy in 28 countries (gathered from the Comparative Welfare Entitlements Dataset) and party programs in 36 countries (gathered from the Comparative Manifesto Project). Key hypotheses tested in the paper are that the preferences of the poor are represented better in countries with a stronger presence of unions, with strict regulations on money in politics and with a more proportional electoral system. The findings have important implications for the role of inequality in advanced democracies, and may provide insight into avenues for political reform that bring the ideal of political equality closer to reality.