Social distance and ideological congruence between MPs and citizens

This chapter examines descriptive and substantive representation in the Iberian Legislatures from two perspectives: historic and territorial. We ground our comparative analysis in two historical periods—before and after the Great Recession. Focusing on two of Pitkin’s four dimensions of representation, we explore whether the level of ideological congruence or social resemblance between parliamentarians and citizens has increased. Using mass and elite surveys, census data and parliamentarians’ biographies, we find that the level of congruence and resemblance has increased. This may be the result of the Great Recession or the intensification of a historical trend that other studies have previously identified.