Do Legislators Respond to Voters’ Policy Demands? Experimental Evidence

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Abstract

Examining the influence of voter policy demands on politicians' policy preferences is complex due to inherent endogeneity concerns. To address this, we conduct an experimental study involving 535 state legislators in Germany, randomly providing them with data on electoral support for two distinct reform proposals. Our findings reveal significant treatment effects: approximately one out of ten legislators alter their policy stances in response to voter support information. The effect, however, is contingent upon the policy's relevance to the politician’s mandate. Notably, voter preference information significantly influences politician support only for a state-level policy reform, but does not affect their stance on national policy reforms. These observations suggest that a politician's preference formation is significantly influenced by perceived political costs associated with endorsing certain policies.

Authors

• Christian Breunig, University of Konstanz

• Guido Schwerdt, University of Konstanz

• Maj-Britt Sterba, University of Konstanz