(Taylor & Francis, 2022-11-15) Jaime Castillo, Antonio Manuel; Coller Porta, Francesc Xavier; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
In some countries public opinion is consistently highly supportive of redistribution,
while policy outcomes do not always produce high levels of redistribution. According to the
political congruence literature this might be due to a biased representation of policy preferences,
as those of high socio-economic status are expected to be better represented in the political
process. To illuminate this conundrum, we analyze congruence in preferences for redistribution,
public expenditure and taxation in the case of Spain, by drawing on data from two
complementary surveys that collected information from citizens and members of parliament
(MPs). We find a high degree of congruence in political preferences between citizens and
representatives. Moreover, although the preferences of well-educated groups are better
represented in the case of taxation, it cannot be argued that there is a ‘pro-rich’ bias in MPs’
preferences.
