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100 _aForman-Rabinovici, Aliza and Beeri, Itai
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245 _aDescriptive and symbolic: The connection between political representation and citizen satisfaction with municipal public services
260 _aAmerican Review of Public Administration
300 _a54(1), Jan, 2024: p.3-18
520 _aWhile theories of local democracy mark political representation as highly important in determining the quality and perception of public services, little has been done to explore the empirical connection. This represents a lacuna in our understanding of how representation affects citizen wellbeing and how citizens determine their satisfaction with public services. We focus on descriptive and symbolic dimensions of representation to elucidate how representation influences citizens’, and minority citizens’ in particular, experience with public services. Utilizing a survey of residents of Haifa, Israel, our findings imply that beyond the descriptive makeup of municipal elected bodies, symbolic dimensions of representation might be even more important for understanding citizen satisfaction. Symbolic representation may impact satisfaction directly and through its contribution to other feelings about government. These findings expand understandings of the importance of diversity in political representation, determinants of satisfaction and how dynamics of good governance contribute to citizens’ experiences.- Reproduced https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/02750740231187539
650 _aPolitical representation, Symbolic representation, Descriptive representation, Citizen satisfaction, Public service quality, Local democracy, Minority citizens, Municipal governance, Government perception, Good governance, Empirical analysis, Survey research, Haifa, Israel, Representation and wellbeing, Governance dynamics, Public administration, Political diversity, Democratic theory, Representation effects, Citizen experience
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773 _aAmerican Review of Public Administration
906 _aLOCAL GOVERNMENT
942 _cAR