Representation Flashcards
What is representative democracy?
Politicians are elected to use their own judgement to decide on policy
- Politicians are trustees, not delegates
- Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement: and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion
Why, in some models of democracy, is representation irrelevant?
- Median voter theorem
- Politicians compete for the policy position of the median voter
- “Chameleons” whose own characteristics or policy preferences are irrelevant
Why in practice do parties not converge to the median voter?
- Polarization
- Low turnout
- Ethnicity
- Clientelism
- Politicians’ personal policy preferences
- Multi-party systems
Definition of substantive representation
Politicians advocating and implementing their voters’ policy preferences
- Regardless of their personal characteristics
- But it is difficult for people with different characteristics to those their trying to represent to credibly commit to their promises
– eg. it is difficult for mean to credibly commit to represent the interests of women
Definition of descriptive representation
The politician shares my characteristics and identities
- If the politician shares my identity, I’m confident they understand and share my interests
Female voters have different preferences over how government should work
- More social investment, especially health and education
- When women gained the voter in the USA, investment rapidly increased
– this is where investments in education and healthcare came from
Evidence from Brazil of how women change how governments work, and one draw back
- Women elected as Brazilian mayors are less likely to engage in corruption
– 29-35% less - Women elected as Brazilian mayors use clientelism less
– 64 fewer contemporary employees - Women elected as Brazilian mayors reduce premature births
– 1% point lower - But women elected as Brazilian mayors are only half as likely to be re-elected
– 18% vs 38%
Why are women in Brazil less likely to be re-elected?
- Corruption and clientelism work for men
- Women elected as Brazilian mayors receive less financial support from their party for re-election
– And less attractive candidate numbers - Voters consistently discriminate against equally-qualified female candidates
How can we promote female leaders?
- Changing social norms against women politicians
- Quotas; Affirmative action
How gender quotas in India positively impact communities
Since 1993, mandatory “reservations” for female village leaders in one-third of villages, randomly rotating
- Female leaders implement projects that reflect the preferences of women in their villages
- Female leaders better protect property rights, especially for women
- In villages run by women girls (and their parents) are more ambitious
What are the challenges of gender quotas in India?
- Female candidates are often less likely to run in unreserved (non-quota) seats
- Powerful husbands continue to control elected women - “Mukhiya patis”/ “Sarpanch patis”
- A backlash from men resisting empowered women and gendered policies
– Male identity feels threatened
– Caste quotas in India lead to more murders of lower castes - Reinforcing a gender identity cleavage
In what ways is representation not just about individuals but also organizations?
Political parties connect citizens to politicians
How do political parties solve collective action problems? (for candidates and voters)
For candidates
- A stable way to form coalitions, win elections, and govern
For voters
- A reliable way to hold politicians accountable
– Punish the party if the politician retires
– Reducing the short-term bias
How are parties organized in a party system?
- Number of parties
- Institutionalization
- Nationalization
How the number of parties affects governance
- Multi-part system (more credible)
– Hard to form coalitions
– More credible because once the law has passed it takes the consent of a lot of veto players to change it - Dominant party system (more decisive)
– Not much credibility as the dominant party can do what they want as they already have a majority
– Can respond more quickly to crises therefore more decisive - Two-party system (compromise between credibility and decisiveness)
– There’s accountability
– Policies tend to be stable over time but voters can also respond which leads to a party swap
How institutionalization affects governance
Are the parties stable, organized, disciplined, and rooted in society?
- Disciplined, ideological parties
– eg. Workers’ Party, Brazil
- Personalist, elite parties (“vehicles”)
– eg. Free Peru Party (founded in 2016, name changed in 2019)
- Programmatic parties
- Clientelist parties
- Institutionalized parties oversee faster economic growth
- Countries with programmatic political parties implement World Bank loans more effectively
How nationalization affects governance
Do the parties compete in all constituencies nationally?
- Ghana, nationally represented
– Therefore must offer appeals that apply to everyone (eg. healthcare for everyone)
- India, parties run in certain regions
– Therefore don’t argue for national changes only for benefits for their specific regions (fragmented)
Overview of party systems
- More parties -> More veto players
– Two-party systems balance credibility and decisiveness - Institutionalization -> more credible long-term policies
– More programmatic, less clientelist politics
– Clearer accountability, less short-term bias - Nationalization -> more public goods
– Better health outcomes and more investment
– Broader target of voters, so more efficient to provide public goods
How do party systems change?
- Changing the electoral rules
– Majoritarian elections -> two parties - Shocks, eg. democratization, corruption scandals
– Emerging parties without clientelist ties can come to power, eg. the Workers’ Party in Brazil - Modernization/Development
– Richer, more educated voters reject clientelism and personalist parties - Leadership and new coalitions
– The transformation of Bangladesh from a two-party to a dominant-party system
