The Shrine of Party: Congressional Voting Behavior 1841-1852

1967 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 231
Author(s):  
Charles Sellers ◽  
Joel H. Silbey
Keyword(s):  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Congressional Voting

The Stability of Coalitions on Roll Calls in the House of Representatives

1962 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
William H. Riker ◽  
Donald Niemi
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
The Other ◽  
Considerable Degree ◽  
Congressional Voting ◽  
Rational Explanation ◽  
Stability Of Coalitions ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Do So

In some recent discussions of roll calls in Congress a model of interacting blocs has often been adopted and to a considerable degree verified. This model assumes the existence of several fairly cohesive blocs along with, perhaps, some unattached members. Furthermore, it is assumed that some of these blocs are fairly consistently opposed on roll calls, while others ally now with one side, now with the other. This model is attractive, not only because it accords with the usage of journalists, but also because it seems to provide a rational explanation of what sometimes appears to be the almost random confusion of Congressional voting behavior. As the evidence here presented suggests, however, this model is somewhat too neat and requires modification to account for shifting alliances over (often relatively short periods of) time. In a trial, reasoning from the assumptions of this model, we attempted to pick out those blocs and members who shifted from side to side. We were, however, unable to do so except in a few instances, largely, we believe, because the model as heretofore developed is static.

The Linkage between Constituency Attitudes and Congressional Voting Behavior: A Causal Model

1966 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles F. Cnudde ◽  
Donald J. McCrone
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Roll Call ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Congressional Voting ◽  
Theoretical Question ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Policy Agreement

Warren E. Miller and Donald E. Stokes' publication in 1963 of a preliminary report on the Survey Research Center's representation study is an important landmark in the development of empirical political theory. That report addressed itself to the crucial theoretical question of the linkage between mass political opinions and governmental policy-making. More specifically, the report found considerable policy agreement between Congressional roll call votes and the attitudes of the individual Congressman's constituency. This policy agreement was then interpreted through several causal paths and the Congressman's perception of his constituency's attitudes was found to be the main path by which the local district ultimately influenced Congressional outputs.The main body of the report dealt with the broad civil rights issue dimension, and, by specifying the perceptual path by which constituency influence is brought to bear, documented the effect of political issues despite the generally low level of political information held at the mass level. Thus, the Congressmen, through their broad cognitive evaluations, were aware of how far they could proceed in determining their civil rights roll call votes on the basis of their own attitudes before risking the displeasure of their constituents.Beyond such major substantive contributions the representation study introduced to political science a variance-apportioning technique similar to that developed by Sewall Wright, in 1921. Through this variance-apportioning technique, the importance of the perceptual link was isolated and evaluated. This study, then, symbolizes the growing recognition in political science of the importance of more sophisticated methodological tools in the process of theory building.

The Shrine of Party: Congressional Voting Behavior, 1841-1852

1967 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 607
Author(s):  
Morris H. Cohen ◽  
Joel H. Silbey
Keyword(s):  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Congressional Voting

The Shrine of Party: Congressional Voting Behavior, 1841-1852

1968 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 383
Author(s):  
Donald R. Harkness ◽  
Joel H. Silbey
Keyword(s):  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Congressional Voting

The State Delegations and the Structure of Party Voting in the United States House of Representatives

1956 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 1023-1045 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Truman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Congressional Voting ◽  
Minor Significance ◽  
Party Voting ◽  
The Individual ◽  
State Delegations

Recent controversies over the degree of responsibility displayed by American parties have underscored at least one feature of voting in the Congress. Whatever the merits of the contending interpretations and demands, the facts adduced on both sides suggest relatively fluid, unstructured voting patterns, especially in the House of Representatives. Although the party label is clearly the single most reliable indicator of congressional voting behavior, it is admittedly somewhat less than perfect. The individual Representative may fairly often dissent from the views of most of his party colleagues, not only on matters of local or minor significance but also on issues of national or even global import.The Representative's “independence” is most commonly, and in a good many instances accurately, ascribed to peculiarities of his constituency which generate demands for a non-conforming vote or, perhaps more frequently, are expected to be the source of recriminations and penalities if he does not display independence of his party colleagues on certain types of issues. But the Member of Congress is by no means always able to predict the electoral consequences of his choices even though he is sure that they may produce repercussions in his district.

Congressional Voting over Legislative Careers: Shifting Positions and Changing Constraints

2000 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 665-676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Stratmann
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Congressional Voting ◽  
Empirical Results ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Party Line ◽  
Voting Decisions

The proposed model predicts that voting behavior of legislators is more variable early in their career and that junior members are more likely to vote with their party than senior members. The results from the analysis of voting patterns in the House of Representatives and the Senate are consistent with the hypotheses: Party line voting and variability of voting decisions decline with increasing seniority. Changes in voting behavior are also induced by redistricting. The empirical results show that legislators subject to redistricting change their voting behavior to accord better with altered constituency preferences.

Ideology and the US Congressional Vote

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Shor ◽  
Jon C. Rogowski
Keyword(s):  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Congressional Elections ◽  
Spatial Proximity ◽  
Congressional Voting ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Voter Preferences ◽  
The Us ◽  
Spatial Estimates ◽  
Voter Decision Making

A large class of theoretical models posits that voters choose candidates on the basis of issue congruence, but convincing empirical tests of this key claim remain elusive. The most persistent difficulty is obtaining comparable spatial estimates for winning and losing candidates, as well as voters. We address these issues using candidate surveys to characterize the electoral platforms for winners and losers, and large issue batteries in 2008 and 2010 to estimate voter preferences. Questions that were answered by both candidates and citizens allow us to jointly scale these estimates. We find robust evidence that vote choice in congressional elections is both strongly associated with spatial proximity and that individual-level and contextual variables commonly associated with congressional voting behavior condition the magnitude of its importance. Our results have important implications for theories of voter decision-making and electoral institutions.

The Shrine of Party: Congressional Voting Behavior, 1841-1852.

1967 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard P. McCormick ◽  
Joel H. Silbey
Keyword(s):  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Congressional Voting
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