A typical assumption – as in this December 2025 article in The Guardian – is that such protests are effective. But how can we know that political participation such as protest makes a difference beyond the prominent social movements most likely to attract research attention? 

To enable researchers to answer such a fundamental question, our new article in Political Behavior takes a step back. In it, we ask a related important question that, surprisingly, scholarship has not yet answered: are politically active people better represented than those who are inactive? This question is normatively important in its own right. The answer may help us better understand whether political participation such as protest affects policy outcomes. 

The question also relates to competing ideals in our conception of democracy. A central ideal of democratic life is that citizens can participate in and influence politics. A competing ideal is that all citizens should be represented equally. 

A flawed assumption 

The Guardian article’s focus is on key social movements like US women’s suffrage and the civil rights movement. Consistent with this, prior research has identified evidence that people who are politically active are indeed better represented on specific policy issues, for certain time periods, and in some geographic locations.

If lack of representation motivates protest, then it may be those who protest that are less well represented

There is strong media focus on the influential role of protest. Yet there are clear indications that protesters may, in general, be less well represented. Research shows that the political frustration of citizens outside the mainstream often motivates political activity like protest. The anti-system attitudes of these people may not gain enhanced representation. But if lack of representation motivates protest, then it may be those who protest that are less well represented. 

So, are politically active people better represented overall? 

The participation-representation connection 

We looked at survey data from approximately 270,000 people across 40 countries between 1996 and 2016 to see how their policy preferences matched up with what governments actually did five years later across 36 different issues. 

Electoral and nonelectoral channels of influence

To our knowledge, our study is the first to connect empirical evidence on citizens’ opinions to subsequent policy implementation to assess whether politically active people are better represented than inactive ones. Voters are slightly, but not substantially better represented than non-voters. In contrast, people active in multiple forms of nonelectoral participation are better represented than inactive people.

The graph below shows the associations between people's specific forms of participation experience and seeing their policy preferences realised. People politically active in protest and other kinds of nonelectoral political participation, such as demonstrations, petitions, and contacting officials, are more likely to have their policy preferences reflected in policy implementation within five years. 

Association between different forms of political participation and subsequent representation

No specific nonelectoral participation indicator stands out as more important. People who engage in one form of nonelectoral participation often engage in another. It is therefore hard to disentangle them with our data. Interestingly, however, when we include all nonelectoral participation indicators together in a single index, we find that people active in multiple types of participation are even better represented than those who are less active. This suggests that people maximally active in nonelectoral participation may act as 'intense policy demanders'. 

Higher participation levels are indeed connected with better representation. This paves the way for next-step research to investigate precisely how and why the politically active are better represented. 

Accounting for alternate explanations: socio-economic status and attitudes 

There is a clear and meaningful correlation between participation and subsequent representation. This correlation cannot, however, identify whether nonelectoral participation causes better representation. Might there be a causal link? To find out, we examined whether prominent alternative explanations can account for such a relationship.

There is a clear correlation between political participation and subsequent representation. But does nonelectoral participation cause better representation?

We tested whether socio-economic status or political attitudes can explain the observed relationship. Our findings show that the relationship between participation and subsequent representation holds – even when accounting for these factors. 

Specifically, for socio-economic status, the participation-representation connection still holds when controlling for all major socio-economic characteristics considered important in this field of study (income, education, gender, age, and urban/rural residence). And for attitudinal engagement, we again find that the participation-representation connection remains strong, even when controlling for key measures of attitudinal engagement such as political interest, political trust, satisfaction with democracy, and political efficacy. 

The participation-representation connection 

Our research makes two important contributions to the field. First, we show that those who are politically active through nonelectoral activity are better represented, even when accounting for leading alternate explanations. Second, we lay the groundwork for next-step research to identify causal mechanisms linking participation and representation. 

Through nonelectoral activities, people can convey specific messages regarding their policy preferences

There are several reasons why nonelectoral participation like protest may lead to better representation. For example, through nonelectoral activities, people can convey specific messages regarding their policy preferences. 

Recalling the images in The Guardian’s article of protesters in prominent social  movements, our study shows that a positive participation-representation connection extends beyond the most iconic movements to protest behaviour in general across forty countries and over two decades (1996–2016). Are politically active people indeed better represented in policy outcomes? For nonelectoral participation like protest, the answer is a clear 'yes'.

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