Legislators claim that how they explain their votes matters as much as or more than the roll
calls themselves. However, few studies have systematically examined legislators' …

Taking the topics of a quantitative methodology course and illustrating them through Monte
Carlo simulation, this book examines abstract principles, such as bias, efficiency, and …

Our research addresses how individual member behavior and institutional variables affect
legislative success in the US House of Representatives. Using new measures of activity from …

The overlapping and interacting forces that caused a Conservative government to repeal the
protectionist Corn Laws against its own political principles and economic interests: extensive …

Journalistic and academic accounts of Congress suggest that important committee positions
allow members to procure more federal funds for their constituents, but existing evidence on …

Limitation riders, which allow the US Congress to forbid agencies from spending money for
specific uses, enable congressional majorities to exert greater influence over bureaucratic …

A systematic analysis of Federal Reserve and congressional deliberations on monetary
policy, drawing on textual analysis software and in-depth interviews with participants …

Do members of Congress follow through on the appeals they make in campaigns? The
answer to this question lies at the heart of assessments of democratic legitimacy. This study …

Conventional wisdom suggests that a strong legislature is built on a strong internal
committee system, both in terms of committee powers and the willingness of members to …

Distributive, informational, and partisan rationales provide contrasting accounts of legislative
politics. Which of these theories best explains the decisions and policies of the House …