Political Underrepresentation Among Public Benefits Recipients: Evidence from Linked Administrative Data
Name
Allegheny-County-voter-turnout-note_2021WPversion.pdf
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313.73 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
252fffdbaf5eb4e77e2323c6e62f2855
Date Issued
August 16, 2023
Journal
Urban Affairs Review
Publisher
Sage
Citation
Chizeck, S., Fong, K., Goldstein, R., & White, A. R. (2024). Political Underrepresentation Among Public Benefits Recipients: Evidence from Linked Administrative Data. Urban Affairs Review, 60(1), 420-434.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
People receiving government assistance have personal stakes in the political process and intimate knowledge of policy implementation. However, data limitations have made it hard to measure voting among those receiving assistance across various programs. Using linked administrative data from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, merged with the Pennsylvania voter file, we calculate voting rates among benefits recipients. We find that people receiving means-tested benefits (cash assistance, food assistance, health insurance, disability benefits, childcare, and housing) vote at just over half the rate of other county residents (45% compared with 84% in 2020). In the 2020 election, public benefits recipients comprised over 20% of the voting-eligible population but only 12% of voters. To the extent that benefits recipients are more supportive of generous welfare policy than non-recipients and more familiar with administrative burdens programs impose, this underrepresentation may obscure popular preferences for social welfare provision and shape politicians' attentiveness to program design.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231191703
