Group appeals are of great concern to those who study parties and representation because social groups are essential to political processes. While previous works examine appeals to social groups in various forms, efforts to systematically analyze the role of group appeals in political representation are still in the early stages. In a pilot survey fielded in Ireland (N = 344), we explore respondents’ reactions to group appeals, gauging their effects on general feelings of representation, group representation, policy representation, political efficacy, and mobilization. Additionally, exploratory analyses of responses to open-ended questions reveal that group appeals evoke various considerations among voters. Our main argument is that group appeals illuminate an underexplored aspect of the party-voter representative relationship, which goes beyond the influence of policy issues and positions. Thus, understanding voters’ reactions to parties’ social group appeals is important for a complete view of political representation as a key element for the functioning of democracy
