Current Institutional Affiliation
Assistant Professor, Political Science, Utah State University

Award Information

Negotiating Agreement in Congress Research Grants 2016
Institutional Affiliation (at time of award):
Assistant Professor, Political Science
Committee Votes as a Cause of Congressional Polarization

Studies of congressional polarization typically ignore the role of committees in drafting legislation. I focus on the addition of recorded committee roll call votes in the 92nd Congress, which allowed the party leadership to monitor the behavior of committee members and enforce party loyalty. The SSRC research grant will allow for the collection of a long-term dataset of standing committee votes from the rule change through the 114th Congress to determine how committee roll call votes compare to floor votes, and whether the increase in polarization on the floor is attributable to an increase in polarization at the committee level.

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