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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Primary Barriers To Working Class Representation, Sarah A. Treul, Eric Hansen
Primary Barriers To Working Class Representation, Sarah A. Treul, Eric Hansen
Political Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works
How do working class candidates perform in primary elections? Working class candidates rarely emerge, but existing evidence suggests workers perform as well as white-collar candidates once on the ballot. However, this evidence comes from studies of general elections. It is unknown whether these findings extend to other types of elections like primaries, where candidates compete without the political and financial backing of a party. We collect and analyze novel data describing the occupational background of all candidates who competed in U.S. House primaries between 2008 and 2016. The results show that working class candidates received an average vote share 24 …
White Constituents And Congressional Voting, Eric Hansen
White Constituents And Congressional Voting, Eric Hansen
Political Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works
Why do some members of Congress vote more on the extremes of their party than others? I argue that lawmakers representing more homogeneously white districts have greater electoral incentive to moderate their voting records, since the two parties compete more for support of white voters than for the support of minority voters. I provide evidence using roll-call votes from the U.S. House and Senate. I find members representing more homogeneously white districts have more moderate voting records, a finding that holds for Democrats and Republicans. I explore two potential mechanisms: legislator responsiveness and electoral punishment. While legislators do not seem …
Inexperienced Or Anti-Establishment? Voter Preferences For Outsider Congressional Candidates, Eric Hansen, Sarah Treul
Inexperienced Or Anti-Establishment? Voter Preferences For Outsider Congressional Candidates, Eric Hansen, Sarah Treul
Political Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works
Do US voters prefer inexperienced candidates? Candidates who have never held elected office before have had greater success in recent presidential and congressional elections. However, it could be that voters prefer the type of anti-establishment rhetoric that such candidates use more than the lack of experience itself. We conduct a 2x2 factorial experiment that manipulates a fictitious congressional candidate’s experience and rhetoric toward the political system. Results from a nationally representative Qualtrics sample and two follow-up studies from Mechanical Turk show that respondents evaluate the candidate more positively when he uses anti-establishment rhetoric instead of pro-establishment rhetoric. Though the findings …
Impact Of Interest Group Testimony On Lawmaking In Congress, Nina Therese Kasniunas
Impact Of Interest Group Testimony On Lawmaking In Congress, Nina Therese Kasniunas
Dissertations
Building on interest group and congressional committee literature, the interest group impact theory is created to explicate the role of interest groups in congressional committee hearings. This theory applies not only to the influence interest groups have in congressional hearings, but also to the access given to them to be able to participate. The theory maintains that interest groups are necessary to legislators in this capacity since they provide valuable information relating to politics, elections and policy. Resource rich interest groups with visibility as experts in a policy area are expected to be given more access and influence particularly to …