Political Science scholars have long debated whether political participation beyond voting affects policy responsiveness, or if affluence is the primary factor. This study analyzes congruence between citizens' policy preferences and their representatives' roll call votes using data from the 2012 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES). Contrary to expectations that income might be more influential, findings show that citizen engagement beyond voting significantly enhances this congruence for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), especially among those with less income. However, this effect is restricted to constituents who share their representatives' partisan alignment and highly salient issues.
