We leverage a massive new comprehensive database of constituent service requests from Members of Congress to examine which types of constituents receive help from Members of Congress and how electing a Republican or Democrat affects who gets served. We find that the amount of help that legislators provide veterans and seniors aligns with the number of veterans and seniors in their district. However, the share of low-income constituents does not predict the amount of help that legislators provide to constituents seeking help during hardship. Using a difference-in-differences design, we show that Republicans provide less constituency service than Democrats overall. We fail to detect partisan differences in the amount of service to businesses, veterans, or seniors, but we find that Republicans provide much less service to low-income individuals. We offer potential explanations for this disparity, including demand from constituents and elected officials' willingness to supply it. Our results show that elections have consequences for the provision of service to constituents.
Who Gets Constituent Service?
