Is Political Moderation Ethnically Based? Italian /American Members of Congress and Congressional Polarization

Published version made available with permission from the Publisher. This item is under embargo in accordance with Publisher agreement until 1 January 2016

How people look running for office can be an important factor in their electoral success or failure

Given the degree to which many people value physical attractiveness in society today, it may come as little surprise that voters’ decisions are often based to some degree on how candidate’s look. But to what extent is this the case? In new research, Rodrigo Praino finds that when a candidate runs against someone of the same gender, the most attractive candidate receives more votes, but when men and women run against one another, the candidate that looks the most competent is favored by voters

The Italian/American Congress: Symbolic Representation, Congressional Tenure, and Legislative Voting Behavior

Even though, sociologically, the average Italian/American Member of Congress (MC) is virtually identical to his/her non-Italian/American counterpart, there are important and remarkable differences between the two that are attributable to their ethnic background. This work shows that Italian/Americans should not be dismissed as a political force just because Americans of Italian ancestry are very well integrated and assimilated within American society. In fact, regardless of the fact that their socioeconomic makeup seems to be in line with the standard socioeconomic makeup of the overall American population, there is something almost intangible about their membership in a very specific ethnic group that produces tangible, measurable, and important political consequences. Some of these consequences are described and analyzed, including where Italian/American MCs are elected, whether or not an “Italian/American electoral advantage” exists, and how Italian/American MCs behave while in office