How Out of Step? Measuring Differences in Voter and Legislator Preferences.

Studies comparing the ideological leanings of voters and elected officials are often hampered by the lack of a common measure. We use legislative referenda - on which state legislators and voters both vote on the same issue - as a bridging observations to develop a common measure for both. Examining referenda votes during several sessions of the California Assembly, we find that legislators are significantly more ideologically extreme than the median voter in their districts. We additionally find that members of the majority party are considerably more extreme relative to their districts than members of the minority party are. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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