Class in Latin America: Linking Descriptive and Symbolic Representation

• In Event: Electoral Legitimacy and Representation

Abstract

Democracy rests on the idea that power should reflect the will of the people. In practice, however, democracies vary dramatically in their representativeness, with different groups in society facing varying levels of access and inclusion. Working class people in particular, are dramatically underrepresented in democracies across the globe. How does the exclusion of the working class influence citizens’ perceptions of representation? We argue that when groups of people are continually denied access to representation, citizens are unlikely to believe that their interests are represented by political parties or by parliament more generally. By contrast, more inclusive legislatures—those that incorporate members of the working class—foster support for and identification with representatives. Using a multilevel analysis of 18 Latin American countries—a region plagued by a crisis of representation—we show greater inclusion of the working class is associated with stronger attachments to agents of representation. These findings have important implications for the strengthening of democracy in Latin America, as they indicate that more diverse decision-making bodies, which foster stronger feelings of political representation, may be key to deepening citizens’ attachments to political parties and mitigating the crisis of representations.

Authors

• Tiffany D. Barnes, University of Kentucky

• Gregory Saxton, University of Kentucky