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The Congressional Representation of Muslim-American Constituents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2009

Shane Martin
Shane Martin*
Affiliation:
Dublin City University
*
Address correspondence and reprint request to: Shane Martin, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland. E-mail: shane.martin@dcu.ie
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Abstract

Legislators' responsiveness to constituency preferences is an accepted cornerstone of American representative democracy. Focusing on key domestic anti-terrorism votes during the 109th Congress, this study explores whether or not the presence of Muslim-Americans in a district influenced House members' roll-call behavior. We apply and test two competing theories of representation: the congruence theory and the minority backlash hypothesis. Using original data on Muslim-American constituency size, our analysis indicates little evidence of a representational backlash and some evidence that both Democratic and Republican members are positively responsive in their roll-call behavior to the presence of Muslim voters in their districts.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 2 , Special Issue 2: Muslims in America , August 2009 , pp. 230 - 246
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2009

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