The Matthew Effect: How the Election Process Discourages Working-Class Representation

Abstract

Working-class Americans are vastly underrepresented in legislative institutions. Indeed, elected officials in the United States are wealthier, more educated, and overwhelmingly come from more privileged social classes. A growing body of literature is beginning to study the consequences of these class disparities, but few have studied the causes of such disparities. This paper is the first to analyze how the electoral process discourages or even prevents working-class representation. Using quantitative analysis and interviews conducted with 32 candidates who ran in open-seat U.S. House races in 2022, this paper identifies key elements of the campaign process that negatively impact workers. It finds a deeply entrenched Matthew effect in the campaign process, where advantages lead to further advantages and disadvantages lead to further disadvantages. Those who come from privileged social classes are more likely to emerge as candidates, better equipped to fulfill legal requirements, disproportionately advantaged in the fundraising process, and ultimately favored by political party structures. Working-class individuals, however, are less likely to emerge as candidates and face disproportionate disadvantages when they do. Workers experience greater difficulty fulfilling legal requirements, fewer fundraising opportunities, and unwelcoming party structures that ultimately discourage electoral success. These results have important social, legal, and policy implications, and they shed light on the ways in which the electoral process facilitates representative inequities.