The Effects of Protesters' Identities on the Political Agenda

• In Event: Experiments with Political Elites

Abstract

To whom politicians are responsive matters for political representation. A wide literature on political representation predicts politicians to be responsive to citizens with whom they share demographics or substantive interests. I test whether these findings apply to the case of protests – a highly popular but understudied form of political participation. In a pre-registered experiment (N = 1400), I test how Swedish local politicians respond to protests that vary in terms of who participates. The results indicate that politicians are responsive to protesters with whom they share characteristics such as age, gender, and ideology. I test several mechanisms concerning politicians’ strategic interests to be responsive to such protests. This research contributes to understanding how protests matter for descriptive and substantive representation.

Author

• Elena Leuschner, University of Gothenburg