Who Represents Senior Citizens in an Aging Society? The Role of Electoral Context in the Representation of Seniors

Abstract As many democracies face aging populations, concerns about how to serve senior citizens’ policy interests become increasingly important. Despite seniors forming a growing share of the electorate, they often receive limited legislative attention as a group. How does an aging electorate influence the representation of seniors, and how does this influence vary across different electoral contexts? We argue that the high turnout rates and consistent political preferences of seniors reduce their electoral impact in competitive districts. Therefore, we expect lawmakers’ responsiveness to the relative size of the senior population to vary depending on electoral competitiveness. We test our hypothesis using the case of South Korea, one of the most rapidly aging societies globally. Analyzing over 20,000 bills from the 21st National Assembly in South Korea, we find that a larger senior population is not consistently associated with senior-related legislation. Legislators in competitive districts are less likely to sponsor such legislation, prioritizing bills with broader voter appeal. In contrast, those in safer districts are more responsive to aging constituents. These findings suggest that demographic size alone does not ensure political influence; the electoral context plays a decisive role in shaping substantive representation in aging democracies.