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Representation in America: Majority Rule in a Divided Political System

Representation in America: Majority Rule in a Divided Political System

Paperback

Series: Chicago Studies in American Politics

General Political ScienceUnited States Politics

PREORDER - Expected ship date March 25, 2027

ISBN10: 0226856887
ISBN13: 9780226856889
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: Mar 25 2027
Pages: 288
Language: English

A landmark appraisal of how Congress represents public opinion.

Drawing on nearly two decades of the Cooperative Congressional Election Study of American public opinion and more than one hundred key legislative proposals, Representation in America presents the most comprehensive, data-driven look at how Congress has represented the American public, spanning the presidencies of George W. Bush through Joe Biden. The result is a sweeping account of how electoral and legislative institutions channel and amplify majority preferences while tempering the most divisive proposals.

Stephen Ansolabehere and Shiro Kuriwaki trace each stage of the representation process, from constituents to their representatives to Congress's collective decisions. Contrary to conceptions of democratic dysfunction, Ansolabehere and Kuriwaki find a strong majoritarian tendency: most proposals on the legislative agenda enjoy the support of the majority of Americans; voters tend to choose legislators whose positions they agree with; most legislators vote in line with the majority of their constituencies most of the time; and legislative districts magnify rather than mute majority opinion. When majority rule falls short, it usually takes the form of popular legislation stalling rather than Congress passing laws the public opposes.

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Ansolabehere, Stephen

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United States Politics