Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy > Vol 6 > Issue 3–4

Rhetorical Representation: Measuring Voter Alignment with Legislative Speech

Kevin Foley, Department of Government, Cornell University, USA, kpf32@cornell.edu
 
Suggested Citation
Kevin Foley (2025), "Rhetorical Representation: Measuring Voter Alignment with Legislative Speech", Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy: Vol. 6: No. 3–4, pp 427-453. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/113.00000131

Publication Date: 01 Oct 2025
© 2025 K. Foley
 
Subjects
Congress,  Political economy,  Public opinion
 
Keywords
Congresspublic opinionLLMsrepresentationspeech
 

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In this article:
Introduction 
Background 
Data and Methods 
Analysis 
Discussion 
Conclusion 
References 

Abstract

Political representation, or the degree to which the preferences and interests of voters align with the actions or views of the officials they elect, is typically measured in terms of policy output, legislative voting patterns or ideological orientation. In this paper, I explore a rhetorical dimension of representation by matching individual responses from three decades of public opinion survey data with the legislative floor speeches from the United States Congress over the same time period. I find marked partisan asymmetries in the degree to which the speeches of elected officials reflect the beliefs of their voters. Additionally, strong swing state effects reduce representation for voters in nationally competitive battleground states. These findings largely align with existing research that has identified partisan asymmetries in legislative behavior, ideology and rhetorical strategy.

DOI:10.1561/113.00000131

Companion

Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy, Volume 6, Issue 3-4 Special Issue: Artificial Intelligence and the Study of Political Institutions
See the other articles that are part of this special issue.