Scholars have discovered remarkable inequalities in who gets represented in electoral
democracies. Around the world, the preferences of the rich tend to be better represented …

Major theories of democratic representation posit that elected officials ought to reflect the
preferences of their constituents and act accordingly. But a growing body of research finds …

The principle that democracies give all citizens an equal voice is challenged by scholarly
work showing that policies tend to be biased in favor of the more wealthy citizenry. One …

Compulsory voting increases turnout. However, this does not imply that CV reduces the
socioeconomic gap among voters. While conventional accounts argue that CV corrects …

In recent years, scholars have expressed concern that democratic political systems are more
responsive to rich citizens than to poor citizens under conditions of economic inequality …

Adopting compulsory voting (CV) legislation is expected to produce near-universal turnout,
which in turn is assumed to iron out class-based differences in political influence and …

Political parties often employ the rhetoric of electoral mandates, claiming that the people
who voted for them endorsed their policies. However, the level of voter-party issue …

Research on a variety of democracies has shown that there is a link between mass
preferences and public policy. It has also been documented that public policy tends to be …

Political parties are key actors in electoral democracies: they organize the legislature, form
governments, and citizens choose their representatives by voting for them. How citizens …

Narrowing the gap between research and public dialogue, the University of Chicago Center
for Effective Government's Democracy Reform Primers responsibly advance conversations …