Does symbolic representation through class signalling appeal to voters? Evidence from a conjoint experiment

Affluent voters are over-represented in politics. The persisting lack of descriptive representation even among left parties with strong working-class ties or populist radical right parties continues to puzzle researchers. In this paper, we provide a novel explanation for the under-representation of voters from lower socio-economic backgrounds. We focus on symbolic representation and argue that political elites can engage in symbolic representation through class signalling to compensate for lack of descriptive representation. Using original survey data from a conjoint experiment in Switzerland in 2023, we find that many voters are biased in favour of politicians from less affluent backgrounds and class-neutral cultural consumption. More importantly, we demonstrate that both types of symbolic class signalling increase support for affluent politicians among less affluent voters. Hence, symbolic representation can “compensate” for lack of descriptive representation. This contributes to our understanding of the puzzle why descriptive misrepresentation persists.