{"title":"Privileged Franchise and the Political Representation of Elites: Evidence From Denmark","authors":"Lasse Aaskoven, Brenda Van Coppenolle","doi":"10.1111/lsq.70094","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Democratization, via franchise extension, can reduce traditional elite representation and power. We study whether autocratization similarly increases the representation of these elites. We use the case of Denmark from 1849 to 1915. A constitutional change in 1866 created a privileged franchise to the upper chamber of the parliament weighted towards the wealthy and rural areas, while leaving the electoral rules to the lower chamber unchanged. Using MP-year level data, we apply a difference-in-difference approach to study whether this autocratizing reform increased the representation of Danish elites in the upper chamber relative to the lower chamber. We find that this reform indeed increased the share of traditional elites in the upper chamber of the parliament such as the nobility and landed estate owners, including those with political-dynastic ties, and arguably therefore the nature of democratic representation in 19th century Denmark.</p>","PeriodicalId":47672,"journal":{"name":"Legislative Studies Quarterly","volume":"51 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2026-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/lsq.70094","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Legislative Studies Quarterly","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lsq.70094","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"POLITICAL SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Democratization, via franchise extension, can reduce traditional elite representation and power. We study whether autocratization similarly increases the representation of these elites. We use the case of Denmark from 1849 to 1915. A constitutional change in 1866 created a privileged franchise to the upper chamber of the parliament weighted towards the wealthy and rural areas, while leaving the electoral rules to the lower chamber unchanged. Using MP-year level data, we apply a difference-in-difference approach to study whether this autocratizing reform increased the representation of Danish elites in the upper chamber relative to the lower chamber. We find that this reform indeed increased the share of traditional elites in the upper chamber of the parliament such as the nobility and landed estate owners, including those with political-dynastic ties, and arguably therefore the nature of democratic representation in 19th century Denmark.
期刊介绍：
The Legislative Studies Quarterly is an international journal devoted to the publication of research on representative assemblies. Its purpose is to disseminate scholarly work on parliaments and legislatures, their relations to other political institutions, their functions in the political system, and the activities of their members both within the institution and outside. Contributions are invited from scholars in all countries. The pages of the Quarterly are open to all research approaches consistent with the normal canons of scholarship, and to work on representative assemblies in all settings and all time periods. The aim of the journal is to contribute to the formulation and verification of general theories about legislative systems, processes, and behavior.
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