Like Voters, Like Politicians. Descriptive Representation and the Rise of Populist Parties in Europe.

• In Event: Lightning Talk: European

Brief Overview

Across Europe, populist politicians are better than traditional parties at descriptively representing voters. In a voting experiment, we test if voters prefer candidates who “look like them”, and if they do so for psychological reasons.

Authors

• Maria Carreri, University of California, San Diego

• Emily A. West, University of Pittsburgh