Government Responsiveness

Political equality and responsiveness to citizens are both central values in democracy. Citizens strong in political resources may, however, impress their preferences upon decision makers more effectively than others, meaning that government responsiveness may possibly exacerbate inequality in policy outcomes, especially if participatory democratic arrangements are prevalent. The article studies these processes empirically, drawing on a dataset of the siting of unwanted facilities in two Swedish cities. Indicative of the tension between equality and responsiveness, we find that residents’ political resources affect facility siting in the local district.