Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Candidate Evaluation and Selection
- 2 The Importance of Issue Representation in a Polarized Congress
- 3 Can Citizens Assess Policies Based on Programs’ Costs and Benefits? The Role of Yardsticks and Contextual Information in Democratic Accountability
- 4 Logic with Polarized Parties, Changing Media, and Motivated Reasoners
- 5 Groups, Parties, and Policy Demands in House Nominations
- Part II The Media and The Informational Environment
- Part III Policymaking, Information Provision, and Accountability
- Part IV Outside The Public Eye? Private Interests and Policymaking
- Bibliography
- Author Index
- Subject Index
2 - The Importance of Issue Representation in a Polarized Congress
from Part I - Candidate Evaluation and Selection
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 February 2023
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Candidate Evaluation and Selection
- 2 The Importance of Issue Representation in a Polarized Congress
- 3 Can Citizens Assess Policies Based on Programs’ Costs and Benefits? The Role of Yardsticks and Contextual Information in Democratic Accountability
- 4 Logic with Polarized Parties, Changing Media, and Motivated Reasoners
- 5 Groups, Parties, and Policy Demands in House Nominations
- Part II The Media and The Informational Environment
- Part III Policymaking, Information Provision, and Accountability
- Part IV Outside The Public Eye? Private Interests and Policymaking
- Bibliography
- Author Index
- Subject Index
Summary
Opening Part I, Josh Clinton, Michael Sances, and Mary Sullivan examine the extent to which constituents evaluate incumbents based on their policy actions in office. The authors focus on situations in which representatives cast a vote contrary to the constituent’s views and present two different analyses. First, they examine the universe of issues in the 2008-2017 Congressional Cooperative Election Study (CCES) surveys, which include items designed to relate constituents’ policy preferences to specific roll- call votes in the House. Second, they conduct an in-depth analysis of legislative activity around the Affordable Care Act (ACA), investigating how members of different demographic groups vary in holding House members accountable for policy positions. In both analyses, partisan labels exert a substantial, independent effect on voter evaluations, but issue positions nonetheless matter. Moreover, the ACA analysis indicates that policy effects are larger among wealthier individuals. The findings imply that despite the increasing role of partisanship in U.S. elections, issue representation remains an important force in voter evaluation of incumbents.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Accountability ReconsideredVoters, Interests, and Information in US Policymaking, pp. 15 - 41Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023