Un-Representative Representatives
Over at Snarkmarket, Robin points a fun Washington Post article that imagines new ways to divide Senate seats. Here’s the income plan:
Imagine a chamber in which senators were elected by different income brackets — with two senators representing the poorest 2 percent of the electorate, two senators representing the richest 2 percent and so on.
Based on Census Bureau data, five senators would represent Americans earning between $100,000 and $1 million individually per year, with a single senator working on behalf of the millionaires (technically, it would be two-tenths of a senator). Eight senators would represent Americans with no income. Sixteen would represent Americans who make less than $10,000 a year, an amount well below the federal poverty line for families. The bulk of the senators would work on behalf of the middle class, with 34 representing Americans making $30,000 to $80,000 per year.
Obviously this won’t be happening anytime soon, but it definitely puts into perspective just how un-representative our representatives are.
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There is actually a long debate in the literature around what “representation” actually means and what kind of representation is more effective or democratic.
Do I have to make $30K per year to be able to understand the interests, needs, and preferences of someone earning $30K? Would I be unable to represent those interests in Congress, even though these people can vote me out of office? Same thing with race–swing voters in various districts (in many cases, minorities) wield disproportionate power over elected officials since their votes are marginally more important than others. The problem may have less do to with the race or financial status of elected officials and more with the fact that many districts and seats aren’t competitive, making it harder for voters to wield considerable influence over politicians.
A great study on this is David Canon’s Race, redistricting, and representation. It’s ‘academicy’ (think it was his dissertation), but does a great job teasing out some of the ideas found in the WaPo article.