Working Class Inclusion

Evaluations of Democratic Institutions in Latin America

Tiffany D. Barnes, Yann P. Kerevel, Gregory W. Saxton

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2023
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• eBook ISBN:
  9781009349789
• Subtopic: American Government
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Latin American legislators, like legislators worldwide, are drawn from a narrow set of elites who are largely out of touch with average citizens. Despite comprising the vast majority of the labor force, working-class people represent a small slice of the legislature. Working Class Inclusion examines how the near exclusion of working-class citizens from legislatures affects citizens' evaluations of government. Combining surveys from across Latin America with novel data on legislators' class backgrounds and experiments from Argentina and Mexico, the book demonstrates voters want more workers in office, and when combined with policy representation, the presence of working-class legislators improves citizens' evaluations of government. Absent policy representation, however, workers are met with distrust and backlash. Chapters show citizens have many opportunities to learn about the presence, or absence, of workers; and the relationship between working-class representation and evaluations of government is strongest among citizens who are aware of legislators' class status.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction
• 2 A Theory of Working-Class Inclusion
• 3 Do Citizens Want to Be Represented by Workers?
• 4 Will Any Worker Do? The Role of Policy in Linking Workers’ Presence to Evaluations of Representatives
• 5 Will Any Worker Do? Linking Parties to Workers in Argentina and Mexico
• 6 How Do Citizens Know Workers Are in Office? Political Incentives, Journalistic Dissemination, and People’s Ability to Infer Class
• 7 How Do Citizens Know Workers Are in Office? Interest in Politics, News Consumption, and Evaluations of Institutions
• 8 Conclusion
• References
• Index