Replication Data for: Unbreakable Legacies? Redistricting, Political Capital and Political Dynasties

Political dynasties in democracies can rely on shared political capital, such as local connections or the personal vote. This paper provides causal evidence of an institutional reform that destroyed political capital, breaking family legacies. We exploit Britain’s 1885 Redistribution of Seats Act, mandating the abolition of constituencies below a population threshold. We find little evidence that redistricting affected incumbents’ immediate electoral success. Yet those whose seats were abolished were less likely to have relatives entering the House of Commons afterwards. The differences are not driven by fewer immediate successions in the next election, but by having fewer new relatives over the next few decades. Our paper highlights an understudied long-term consequence of redistricting: shifting the distribution of power across generations.民主体制下的政治家族（political dynasties）可依托共享政治资本开展运作，例如地方人脉或个人选民支持。本文为摧毁政治资本、打破家族政治传承的制度改革提供了因果识别证据。本文以英国1885年《议会席位重分配法案》（Redistribution of Seats Act）为研究场景，该法案要求废除人口低于设定阈值的议会选区。研究发现，选区重划对在任议员的当期选举表现并无显著影响。然而，原有选区被废除的议员，其亲属后续进入英国下议院（House of Commons）的概率显著更低。这一差异并非源于下一届选举中直系继任者数量的减少，而是未来数十年间其亲属新进入议会的人数持续偏少。本文揭示了选区重划此前未被充分关注的长期影响：即代际间权力分布的重塑。