A number most convenient? The representational consequences of legislative size
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4171313 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Geoff Allen (0000-0001-6802-7347, University of Utah), Henrich Stoll (0000-0003-4812-6916, University of California, Santa Barbara, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 82 |
| Pages | 102594 |
| Publication date | 2023-04-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Electoral Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0261-3794 • E-ISSN: 1873-6890 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.electstud.2023.102594 |
| OpenAlex | W4323051477 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 41 |
This paper explores the political representational consequences of the size of democratic legislatures, which it makes the case for viewing as a feature of the electoral system. Focusing on descriptive representation, we argue that larger legislatures facilitate the descriptive representation of traditionally underrepresented groups, and that this effect should be stronger in majoritarian electoral systems. We find support for the hypothesis about the greater impact of legislative (assembly) size in majoritarian systems using a cross-national analysis of women's representation. We then employ a within-case empirical analysis of the descriptive representation of several racial and ethnic minorities and women in (majoritarian) U.S. state legislatures. Support for the hypothesis about the effects of relative legislative size (the ratio of seats to persons) is found for most minorities and women. More mixed but still somewhat supportive findings emerge about absolute legislative size (the raw number of seats
Democracy · Demographic economics · Descriptive research · Descriptive statistics · Economics · Ethnic group · Legislature · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Proportional representation · Representation (politics · Social science · Sociology · Statistics · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Mathematics · Public Administration
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Making Votes Count
The Political Economy of Benefits and Costs
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| Citations per year | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |