Beyond the vote: A theory of Black representation in Congress

What causes legislators to represent the substantive needs of black constituents in their districts as measured by roll-call voting as well as activities beyond the vote? Are legislators who are African-American or who hail from districts with a large black population more likely to reach out to black constituents than other legislators?; Scholars have often theorized that the election of black legislators leads to substantive black representation in Congress. However, few have empirically demonstrated this claim. In fact, most empirical work has found that the election of black legislators inhibits the representation of black interests in the legislature. By only looking at representatives' roll-call voting, previous researchers have neglected other important avenues of behavior in Congress where race may be the key explanatory factor. This research fills this gap by presenting a unified theory of black representation in Congress.; Specifically, this research determines the effect of (1) electing black representatives; (2) drawing black-majority districts; (3) racial trust; and (4) electing Democratic representatives on the substantive representation of black constituents. Few scholars have disentangled the separate effects of these factors. Also unlike previous researchers, these questions are answered by examining different modes of substantive representation in Congress: roll-call voting, federal “pork” project allocation, and constituency service. Quantitative analyses from the 104th–106 th Congresses and interviews in seventeen congressional districts (during the 106th and 107th Congresses) are conducted.; The findings are as follows: descriptive representation yields substantive representation in Congress, when measured as activities beyond roll-call voting. To increase the substantive representation of black interests as measured by the delivery of goods and services to black constituents, the best predictor is the election of black legislators. To increase the substantive representation as measured by roll-call voting, however, the best predictor is the election of Democratic legislators, even though the race of the legislator and the district's black population are also important factors. Broader implications suggest that legislators face trade-offs between roll-call voting and more particularistic “beyond the vote” activities when making choices on how to represent constituency groups in their districts.