Elitism in the Aisle: A Long-Run Surname Measure of Legislative Elite Composition in Chile, 1834-2020
2026-07-09 • Social and Information Networks
Social and Information Networks
AI summaryⓘ
The authors study how people from powerful families have been represented in Chile's Congress from 1834 to 2020 by linking old elite family names with social status. They find that the number of lawmakers from these elite families dropped significantly over time, especially after a big political change in 1925. From 1910 to 1950, lawmakers from common families focused more on labor issues, while elite lawmakers prioritized government, defense, and foreign affairs. This shows that the background of Congress members influenced what topics the Congress worked on.
descriptive representationsubstantive representationenduring-elite surnameChilean Congress1925 constitutional reformlegislative agendasocioeconomic statushistorical elitesclass representationlabor issues
Authors
Naim Bro, Juan Pablo Luna
Abstract
The link between descriptive and substantive representation is well established in the literature but is hard to trace historically, where class records are thin. We introduce a replicable enduring-elite surname measure, pairing a contemporary socioeconomic criterion with historical elite registers, and apply it across the Chilean Congress, 1834-2020. Against a dynamic population reference built from 22.65 million birth registrations, the enduring-elite share of Congress falls from about half in the 1860s to about 12% in the 2010s, with a sharp drop of 11 to 13 points around the 1925 constitutional reform. In 1910-1950, composition co-moves with the legislative agenda, net of party: common-surname legislators emphasize labor foremost, elite legislators a statecraft agenda of defense, foreign affairs, and administration. Across this window, who sits in Congress moves together with what Congress attends to.