Age and Preferences for Political Representation

Politicians are often older than the population they represent. Does this conflict with (young) voters’ views of who should represent them? I investigate how age shapes preferences along the descriptive, substantive, and symbolic dimension of representation. I argue that voters prefer representatives from their own age group, because they attach symbolic meaning to seeing someone their age in office. This effect should be stronger for young voters who are traditionally underrepresented. Voters should also favor candidates supporting policies that benefit their age group (substantive representation) and candidates who appeal to them via communication platforms primarily used by their age group (Instagram/TikTok vs. TV). Using a conjoint experiment from Germany (n = 2,000), I assess the importance of different candidate attributes for representation preferences among different age groups. The results suggest that voters favor representatives of their own age group, with the effect being strongest among young voters. The findings also offer a pathway for older politicians to mitigate age differences by substantively and symbolically appealing to younger voters. This study contributes to debates on age inequalities in political representation.