Lawmakers More Responsive to Working Class in Districts with Strong Unions

by Jeffrey Burman July 28, 2020

written by Jeffrey Burman July 28, 2020 0 comments

Reprinted from The Washington Post by Christopher Ingraham on July 27, 2020.

It’s a truism of modern politics that Congress is not particularly responsive to the needs of its middle- and working-class constituents.

The drivers of that dysfunction are legion, including partisan gridlock, electoral gamesmanship and even the structural elements of American democracy itself. But new research points to an overlooked reason Congress is often seen as out of touch with the needs of the non-wealthy: the decline of union membership.

Researchers Michael Becher at the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse and Daniel Stegmueller at Duke University study political inequality, or the well-documented tendency among lawmakers to favor the interests of their wealthiest constituents. “The preferences of the poor seem to be virtually ignored,” as the authors characterize the existing research. …

Washington Post 7/27

Jeffrey Burman

Jeff Burman served on the Guild’s Board of Directors from 1992 to 2019. He is now retired. He can be reached at [email protected].

About Us

WHAT OUR MEMBERS DO: Paul Hackner, Z-2 (Sound Effects or Dialogue Editor)/ Y-1 (Re-Recording Mixer)

Recent Articles

Featured

Lawmakers More Responsive to Working Class in Districts with Strong Unions

Healthcare Workers, Union Workers, Teachers Join Portland Protests

National Teachers Union Supports Strikes Over Reopening Plans

You may also like

About Us

Recent Articles

Featured