The Politics of Perception

Katelyn E. Stauffer's 'The Politics of Perception' examines how Americans' beliefs about the number of women in legislatures influence evaluations of representation, trust, and institutional effectiveness.

Drawing on survey data (notably the Cooperative Election Study), experiments, and comparative insights from parliamentary systems, Stauffer shows that people often misperceive descriptive representation yet still use those beliefs to form judgments about democratic legitimacy.

The book links symbolic and descriptive representation, gender stereotypes, and partisan lenses to explain variation in public attitudes toward Congress and state legislatures.

It explores how perceived female inclusion affects views on fairness, competence on policy issues, and the legislative process, with notable differences across partisan and gender groups.

The work contributes to scholarship on representation, public opinion, and gender in politics by foregrounding perceptions as a causal mechanism shaping democratic legitimacy.