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Abstract
In politics specifically and society generally people are often in a position where either
they make decisions on behalf of someone else or someone else is making decisions on their
behalf. But empirical social science research has provided little information on the extent to
which decisions are different when they are made on behalf of others. In this paper, we draw on
evolutionary theory to formulate a set of expectations regarding the differences between
decisions people make for themselves and decisions they make for others (representation).
Using laboratory experiments, we then provide preliminary tests of these hypotheses. The
finding of most interest is that representatives are at least as careful of constituent resources as
constituents are of their own resources. Though this result would seem to go against standard
principal-agent theory, it makes perfect sense when seen in an evolutionary context. People care
about what others think of them and this caring will lead representatives to pander to their
constituents even if their position as representative is not hanging in the balance.
Representatives’ solicitude vis-à-vis constituents may be due more to basic human psychology
than to institutional structures such as elections.
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