Race, Class, and Representation: Exploring the Relationship between Shared Traits and Shared Interests

Abstract: This paper considers whether descriptive representation enhances substantive representation. Past studies of congressional representation have focused predominately on the descriptive value of race, while others have considered gender. This paper continues the previous exploration of descriptive representation based on racial identity, but includes the additional dependent variable of that based on economic status in order to distinguish the differences among racial groups. I find that a positive relationship does exist between the presence of a black member of Congress and support of black interest, though economic indicators do not significantly affect economic-related voting behavior in this study. I