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This chapter develops our theory of working-class inclusion. The chapter is structured around the three central questions that we tackle in this book: (1) Do citizens – and particularly working-class citizens – want to be represented by members of the working class? (2) Will any worker do? Or, how do citizens evaluate workers who do not represent working-class policy interests? (3) How do voters know workers are in office? In answering these questions, we develop new expectations that we evaluate in the following chapters.
Drawing on examples from across Latin America, Chapter 1 introduces the political exclusion of the working class and the puzzles that motivate the book: (1) Do citizens – and particularly working-class citizens – want to be represented by members of the working class? (2) Do citizens know workers are in office? (3) How do citizens evaluate workers who do not represent working-class policy interests? The chapter previews our theory in general terms and provides an overview of the data and cases we use to tackle these important questions. The chapter concludes by introducing the major implications of our findings.
Latin American legislators, like legislators worldwide, are drawn from a narrow set of elites who are largely out of touch with average citizens. Despite comprising the vast majority of the labor force, working-class people represent a small slice of the legislature. Working Class Inclusion examines how the near exclusion of working-class citizens from legislatures affects citizens' evaluations of government. Combining surveys from across Latin America with novel data on legislators' class backgrounds and experiments from Argentina and Mexico, the book demonstrates voters want more workers in office, and when combined with policy representation, the presence of working-class legislators improves citizens' evaluations of government. Absent policy representation, however, workers are met with distrust and backlash. Chapters show citizens have many opportunities to learn about the presence, or absence, of workers; and the relationship between working-class representation and evaluations of government is strongest among citizens who are aware of legislators' class status.
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