Yea or Nay: Do Legislators Benefit by Voting Against Their Party?. Issue 3 (9th January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Donnelly, Christopher P.
• Is Part Of: Legislative studies quarterly. Volume 44:Issue 3(2019)
• Page Start: 421
• Page End: 453
• Publication Date: 2019-01-09
• Subjects: legislative representation -- political parties -- roll‐call voting -- US Congress -- US Senate; Legislative bodies -- Periodicals; Parlement; Procédure législative; Système parlementaire; Étude comparée (Descripteur de forme); Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); 328
• DOI: 10.1111/lsq.12233
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0362-9805

Abstract

Abstract : This article asks whether legislators are able to reap electoral benefits from opposing their party on one or more high‐profile issues. Using data from a national survey in which citizens are asked their own positions on seven high‐profile issues voted on by the U.S. Senate, as well as how they believe their state's two senators have voted on these issues, I find that senators generally do not benefit from voting against their party. Specifically, when a senator deviates from her party, the vast majority of out‐partisans nonetheless persist in believing that the senator voted with her party anyhow; and while the small minority of out‐partisans who are aware of her deviation are indeed more likely to approve of and vote for such a senator, there are simply too few of these correctly informed citizens for it to make a meaningful difference for the senator's overall support.