LGB Representatives in Congress & Policy Representation for the LGB Community?

• In Event: LGBTQ Behavior and Representation

Abstract

Does electing LGB members to Congress increase the substantive representation of such groups? Evidence about the substantive benefits of electing descriptive representatives to the US Congress is mixed. On the one hand, there is little evidence that electing, for instance, racial and ethnic minorities leads to increased policy representation for these groups either in terms of casting roll call votes, supporting issues emphasized by racial and ethnic interest groups, or in the introduction of legislation. In contrast, studies of gender find increased evidence for increased policy representation on all of these dimensions by women legislators. Using a newly compiled data set that includes almost 30 years of interest group ratings from the Human Rights Campaign, this paper examines whether electing gay, lesbian, or bisexual members to Congress advances the policy interests of these constituents. We employ a matching-based approach to improve our ability to make causal inferences about the effect of electing an LGB representative.

Authors

• Benjamin Bishin, University of California, Riverside

• Nicholas Weller, University of California, Riverside