The Electoral Connection Meets the Past: Lessons from Congressional History, 1789–1899

Swift, Elaine K.

doi:10.2307/2151305

Cited by 16 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Scholars have argued that most nineteenth-century legislators were not interested in pursuing a career in Congress (Polsby 1968) and therefore lacked strong incentives to engage in behavior that is expected to benefit modern incumbents. Others claim that voters during this period evaluated candidates almost entirely on the basis of party affiliation rather than experience or legislative actions (Skeen 1986) and generally did not hold public officials accountable for their behavior in office (Formisano 1974;Swift 1987). 2 The arguments for a more limited role for individual congressional candidates during this period is buttressed by research suggesting that the party ballot manufactured greater levels of voter responsiveness to the parties (Engstrom and Kernell 2005Kernell , 2014.…”

Section: Role Of Candidates In Nineteenth-century Electionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Congressional Candidates in the Era of Party Ballots

Carson¹,

Sievert²

2017

The Journal of Politics

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Our article investigates the role of congressional candidates during the era of party ballots in nineteenth-century congressional elections. We examine how these candidates contributed to the overall quality of the party ballot and the means by which nationalization of elections served to mitigate candidate attributes. In our analysis, we take advantage of two unique features of elections during this era. First, election timing was quite variable before 1872, as many House races were not held concurrently with presidential elections. Second, House candidates' position on the ballot varied depending on whether a presidential or gubernatorial race was also being contested at the same time. To investigate these factors, we examine House elections prior to the adoption of the Australian ballot and find strong evidence of candidate effects during this period. Our findings raise important implications about candidate influence and electoral accountability in a more party-centered era.S tudents of congressional politics generally agree that the adoption of the secret ballot in the late nineteenth century was instrumental in the rise of candidatecentered politics. With the elimination of the party ballot that had been in use for several decades, voters could more easily reward or punish individual elected officials or split their ticket since all candidates were listed on the same ballot (Katz and Sala 1996;Rusk 1970). Nevertheless, recent evidence suggests that the quality of individual candidates affected elections in earlier eras (Carson and Hood 2014; Carson and Roberts 2013). When coupled with growing evidence of an electoral connection in the nineteenth century (Bianco, Spence, and Wilkerson 1996;Carson and Engstrom 2005;Carson and Jenkins 2011;Finocchiaro and Jenkins 2016;Rogowski and Gibson 2015), these phenomena raise a variety of implications for existing accounts of electoral politics across time.Our article examines the role of congressional candidates in the era of party ballots. We investigate how congressional candidates contributed to the overall quality of the party ballot and how the nationalization of elections affected the role of candidate attributes. First, the collective nature of the party ballot meant that both parties and candidates had an interest in constructing the best party ticket they could (Carson and Roberts 2013). As such, congressional candidates who could help attract voters or even mobilize supporters had the potential to produce positive electoral returns for the party even if voters were not voting for them directly. Second, both nonuniform election dates and midterm elections should condition the influence of national politics on congressional elections. In effect, the quality of individual congressional candidates should matter significantly more in these cases since voters were not simply making a choice based on which presidential candidate was at the top of the ticket. To examine each of these factors more systematically, we analyze House elections from five decades of the nin...

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Section: Role Of Candidates In Nineteenth-century Electionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Congressional Candidates in the Era of Party Ballots

Carson¹,

Sievert²

2017

The Journal of Politics

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“…Not all results support the careerism‐professionalism relationship. Carson (), Carson and Roberts (), and Swift () show that careerism emerged only after important reforms in Congress in the early twentieth century. Based on a historical perspective, these authors find that reelection rates were not all that different before and after the reforms.…”

Section: Ambition and Legislative Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Reelection and Legislative Power: Surprising Results from Brazil

Cunow

Ames

Desposato

et al. 2012

Legislative Studies Qtrly

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A diverse and growing literature ties legislative professionalization and power to career paths. In particular, higher rates of reelection and longer legislative careers should produce more professional, competent, and high‐quality legislatures. Legislators have more incentives to strengthen their own institution when they intend to remain there for a long career. Using data from the most recent constitutional convention in Brazil, we show that legislators with greater prospects for long careers were actually less likely to support strengthening the legislative branch. We explain this as part of a local equilibrium where career legislators’ short‐term need for pork trumped their long‐term interest in a stronger institution.

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“…Nevertheless, questions remain as to whether his argument accurately portrays politics outside of contemporary American politics. Though Mayhew is silent on the subject, the conventional wisdom among many students of congressional politics is that the nineteenth century was far too different to accommodate a strong electoral linkage between individual representatives and their constituents (Formisano 1974; Huckabee 1989; Polsby 1968; Price 1975; Skeen 1986; Swift 1987–88). Most legislators were not interested in pursuing a career in Congress (Polsby 1968; Price 1975) and therefore lacked incentives to heed the wishes of their constituency.…”

Section: The Electoral Connection and Legislative Accountability In Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Still, there are several reasons to question whether the electoral connection premise applies outside of the modern era. Many of the institutional characteristics of nineteenth‐century electoral politics, such as the predominance of presidential elections, the party strip ballot, rotation, and limited media outlets, would seemingly augur against a strong electoral connection between representatives and their constituents (Bensel 2003; Formisano 1974; Jacobson 1990; Kernell 1977; Price 1975; Swift 1987–88). Nevertheless, other scholars have suggested that Mayhew's “electoral connection” may still be applicable to the nineteenth century (Bianco, Spence, and Wilkerson 1996; Carson et al 2001; Stewart 1989).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Electoral Connection: Evidence from the Early United States

Carson

Engstrom

2005

American J Political Sci

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Students of legislative behavior are divided over the extent to which an electoral connection existed in the early United States. In this article, we offer a test of the electoral connection in early American politics by investigating the electoral aftershocks of the disputed presidential election of 1824. Using newly available county-level presidential voting data, along with the unique circumstances associated with the presidential contest, we examine the connection between representative behavior, district public opinion, and electoral outcomes. We find that representatives who voted for John Quincy Adams in the House contest, yet were from districts supporting Andrew Jackson, were targeted for ouster and suffered a substantial vote-loss in the subsequent midterm election. We also find that the entry of a quality challenger had a sizeable impact on the fortunes of incumbent legislators. These results serve to confirm that representatives could be held accountable for their behavior in office during the antebellum era.

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The Electoral Connection Meets the Past: Lessons from Congressional History, 1789–1899

Cited by 16 publications

References 0 publications

Congressional Candidates in the Era of Party Ballots

Congressional Candidates in the Era of Party Ballots

Reelection and Legislative Power: Surprising Results from Brazil

Assessing the Electoral Connection: Evidence from the Early United States

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