American Politics Speaker Series: Lobbying and Legislative Representation

You’re invited to join Hye Young You, Associate Professor of Politics and Public Affairs at Princeton University, for an American Politics Speaker Series discussion sponsored by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and the Center for American Political Studies.

Registration is encouraged but not required. This event series will not be recorded.

This event is open to Harvard ID holders only. Lunch will be served.

Abstract

A common concern is that lobbying by interest groups distorts democratic representation by shifting legislators away from their constituents’ preferences. For lobbying to harm legislative responsiveness, the preferences of interest groups must diverge from those of the constituents of the legislators they lobby. We analyze the ideological alignment between interest groups, members of Congress, and their constituents across three policy areas: the environment, healthcare, and immigration. Using issue-specific measures of district opinion and campaign contributions as a proxy for lobbying contacts, we find that legislators representing more conservative districts are more likely to be lobbied by conservative groups, suggesting that lobbying often reinforces, rather than distorts, representational alignment. We then estimate a structural model of roll-call voting that incorporates lobbying. The estimated effects are modest but show that lobbying nudges legislators to vote more consistently with district opinion. Lobbying does not systematically distort legislative responsiveness.

More About the Speaker

Hye Young You holds a joint appointment in the Department of Politics and the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.

Her primary research focuses on how interest groups influence democratic representation in the United States. By focusing on the role of interest group lobbying in American politics, her research examines the specific mechanisms and strategies that interest groups use to lobby and sheds light on groups that play a crucial role, but have been understudied, in policymaking. She also studies how politicians are informed and how interest groups can control the provision of information to policymakers. In addition to her core research agenda on lobbying, she is interested in federalism and local political economy, focusing on how local government finances affect the provision of local public goods and intergovernmental relations. Her research has appeared in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, and other outlets. Professor You’s work has been recognized by five discipline-wide Best Paper awards from the American Political Science Association.

Hye Young You received her B.A. at Seoul National University in South Korea, her M.A. at The University of Chicago, and her PhD at Harvard University.

About the Series

The United States is a crossroads. How can Americans connect to each other in deep and meaningful ways, despite holding drastically different political world views? What are the causes and consequences of our nation’s historic levels of partisan polarization? Just how far can democratic backsliding go? The American Politics Speaker Series (APSS) aims to bring together scholars who are doing research on these and other important questions. Hosted jointly with the Center for American Political Studies and chaired by Professors Benjamin Schneer and Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, each session will highlight a scholar whose research is at the forefront of the study of American politics.

Event Details

The Ash Center encourages individuals with disabilities to participate in its events. Should you wish to enquire about an accommodation, please contact our events team at info@ash.harvard.edu prior to the event.