AMERICAN POLITICS & PUBLIC POLICY WORKSHOP
Abstract: American legislative politics have become more partisan and polarized. Classic theories of representation contend that legislators are evaluated by constituents on multiple dimensions in addition to their partisanship and roll call voting behavior. These theories may be questioned if more citizens place extremely high value on ideology when choosing their representatives. Subsequently, legislators may place less emphasis on non-ideological forms of representation, devoting the balance of their time to advancing a policy agenda that moves the status quo. In this paper I examine how citizens value non-ideological representation and how legislators craft their legislative priorities to the ideological composition of their constituencies. To empirical demonstrate these relationships, I rely on original panel data, legislator travel data, and survey experiments on citizens and elites.
Patrick Tucker is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies and the Center for the Study of American Politics. His research interests are broadly related to American politics, with specific interests in representation, public opinion, Congress, and the stability of political attitudes.
This workshop is open to Yale faculty, students, and professional staff only.