James M Curry
Biographic Data
| ID | 1217023 |
|---|---|
| NAME | James M Curry |
| GIVEN NAMES | James M |
| FAMILY NAME | Curry |
| SIGNATURE | CURRY J M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Utah |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1966-1410 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 122 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Congressional Earmarks and Credit Claiming in a Partisan Era
In 2021, congressional Democrats brought back earmarks. Proponents of earmarks argue that they can help members of Congress in their quest for reelection by giving them crucial credit claiming fodder, and as a result can help build support for legislation by adding particularistic benefits to legislative packages. Earlier research provides some support for these arguments, but changes to American politics over the last few decades call into quest…
When Politics Is Not Pivotal: Supermajority Debate Rules in State Legislatures
The 60‐vote end‐debate threshold is a key institution in the United States Senate. Most winning coalitions require 60 votes, effectively giving veto power to a minority of senators. But do supermajority debate rules necessarily translate into minority veto power? We examine this in state legislatures, where there is far more variation in whether chamber rules require a majority or a supermajority of legislators to cut off debate. Across multiple …
Unorthodox Lawmaking and the Value of Committee Assignments
On the Congress Beat: How the Structure of News Shapes Coverage of Congressional Action
Scholars have long criticized media coverage of Congress for its focus on conflict over policy substance. To uncover the drivers of this focus, we examine news coverage of the congressional response to COVID-19. We select the COVID-19 response as an extreme case of Congress coalescing quickly to address a major national crisis in an almost entirely bipartisan way. Our study confirms prior research documenting a media preference for conflict narra…
The Separation of Powers and Policymaking in the US States
Do the separation of powers dynamics in the United States affect policymaking outcomes? Scholars and observers of national politics have long expected that they do, but since there has been little meaningful variation in the constitutional separation of powers system, it has been difficult to conduct empirical assessments. We turn to the American states, were there is variation from state to state in separation of powers institutions. Drawing on …
Interpersonal Relationships, Bipartisanship, and January 6th
For a member of Congress to be a successful lawmaker, they must work collaboratively with their colleagues. Previous work has found that interpersonal relationships among lawmakers are a key predictor of legislative collaboration-particularly among members from opposing parties. In the wake of the events of January 6, 2021, many Democratic lawmakers claimed that their relationships with some of their Republican colleagues were irretrievably broke…
Interpersonal Relationships and Legislative Collaboration in Congress
Do interpersonal relationships among and between representatives and senators affect legislative collaboration in the contemporary Congress? The extant literature on Congress suggests interpersonal dimensions of life on Capitol Hill should play a minimal role in the legislative process. However, research in other fields, including psychology, finds that relationships are crucially important within organizations. In addition, many contemporary acc…
State Congressional Delegations and the Distribution of Federal Funds
Most scholarship on U.S. distributive politics either focuses on the abilities of individual representatives and senators to bring home the bacon or highlights the role the president plays in influencing funding decisions. Little attention is paid to collective efforts in Congress involved in securing grants-in-aid to states. In this paper, we assess how characteristics of House and Senate state delegations affect the collective efforts of a stat…
Minority Party Capacity in Congress
When, and under what circumstances, are congressional minority parties capable of influencing legislative outcomes? We argue that the capacity of the minority party to exert legislative influence is a function of three factors:constraintson the majority party, which createopportunitiesfor the minority party; minority partycohesionon the issue at hand; and sufficientmotivationfor the minority to engage in legislating rather than electioneering. Dr…
The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Era
What Is Regular Order Worth? Partisan Lawmaking and Congressional Processes
Scholars and other congressional observers argue that the erosion of so-called regular order legislative processes exacerbates partisan conflict in Congress. In this article, we investigate whether laws passed via more unorthodox and leadership-led legislative processes garner less bipartisan support than those passed under regular order processes. Drawing on an original data set of important laws passed by Congress from 1987 to 2016 (the 100th–1…
Legislative Style
In this impressive book, William Bernhard and Tracy Sulkin resuscitate the study of “Hill styles,” producing the most comprehensive study to date of how members of Congress approach their jobs and how differences in their legislative styles influence congressional politics. Drawing on a tremendous volume of more than 20 years of data and employing “an inductive, data-centered approach, to group legislators by their behavior” (p. 206), Bernhard an…
Congressional Processes and Public Approval of New Laws
Does how Congress makes a law affect public approval of that law? This question has been little studied, but the rising use of unorthodox processes in Congress raises concerns about the perceived legitimacy of congressional action among the public. Utilizing two unique survey experiments, I present evidence that when people are aware of the use of unorthodox legislative processes they express lower levels of approval for new laws. This effect is …
Non-Party Government: Bipartisan Lawmaking and Party Power in Congress
Majority leaders of the contemporary Congress preside over parties that are more cohesive than at any point in the modern era, and power has been centralized in party leadership offices. Do today’s majority parties succeed in enacting their legislative agendas to a greater extent than the less-cohesive parties of earlier eras? To address this question, we examine votes on all laws enacted from 1973–2016, as well as on the subset of landmark laws …
Knowledge, Expertise, and Committee Power in the Contemporary Congress
Scholars, practitioners, and observers typically portray committee influence as rooted in traditional congressional processes and practices, which are thought to provide committees with powerful opportunities to block and shape legislative proposals. The erosion of regular order processes suggests these traditional processes cannot underlie committee power in the contemporary Congress. Drawing on a mixed‐methods approach of interviews with congre…
The Impact of District Magnitude on the Legislative Behavior of State Representatives
This study demonstrates that district magnitude (the number of officials elected from an electoral district) affects the behavioral choices and policymaking contributions of legislators. We theorize that legislators elected from districts of larger magnitudes focus much of their efforts on relatively low-cost, high-visibility activities that allow for easy credit claiming, while their colleagues from lower magnitude districts focus more on relati…
Lawmaker Age, Issue Salience, and Senior Representation in Congress
Political scientists have demonstrated the importance of lawmakers’ identities, showing that race, gender, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation affect legislative and representational behavior. Is the same true for age? We argue it is, but the effect is conditioned by the salience of different “senior issues.” Analyzing the bill introductions by members of Congress during the 109th and 110th Congresses, we show that older lawmakers are mo…
In-Depth Qualitative Research and the Study of American Political Institutions
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Why Washington Won’t Work
Legislating in the Dark: Information and Power in the House of Representatives
The Impact of District Magnitude on Voter Drop‐Off and Roll‐Off in American Elections
This study demonstrates that multimember districts (MMDs) complicate ballots, reduce voter information, and increase incentives for strategic voting in ways that reduce voter participation. Using data from three states that elect members of at least one legislative chamber from both single‐member districts (SMDs) and MMDs, we test hypotheses about the impact on MMDs on ballot drop‐off (selecting fewer candidates for an office than permissible) an…
The Impact of District Magnitude on Campaign Fundraising
The number of legislators elected in a single district influences many aspects of state legislative elections. However, there is a dearth of research on how district magnitude influences campaign fundraising. We theorize that the greater competition for funds in multimember districts results in candidates raising less money and encourages them to be more entrepreneurial in their fundraising efforts. Specifically, we expect multimember district ca…
Issue Voting and Partisan Defections in Congressional Elections
In every election cycle the fate of some candidates is determined by partisans who defect from their usual voting habits to cast a ballot for the candidate of the opposing party. Defections in congressional elections have been attributed to incumbency, presidential approval, partisan strength, and factors related to individual voters. Our systematic assessment of the impact of issues on voter defections shows that party‐owned issues and performan…
Publishing Bessie head: Memories and reflections
(2005). Publishing Bessie head: Memories and reflections. Wasafiri: Vol. 20, No. 46, pp. 19-26
Non-Party Government: Bipartisan Lawmaking and Party Power in Congress
Majority leaders of the contemporary Congress preside over parties that are more cohesive than at any point in the modern era, and power has been centralized in party leadership offices. Do today’s majority parties succeed in enacting their legislative agendas to a greater extent than the less-cohesive parties of earlier eras? To address this question, we examine votes on all laws enacted from 1973–2016, as well as on the subset of landmark laws …
Knowledge, Expertise, and Committee Power in the Contemporary Congress
Scholars, practitioners, and observers typically portray committee influence as rooted in traditional congressional processes and practices, which are thought to provide committees with powerful opportunities to block and shape legislative proposals. The erosion of regular order processes suggests these traditional processes cannot underlie committee power in the contemporary Congress. Drawing on a mixed‐methods approach of interviews with congre…
Lawmaker Age, Issue Salience, and Senior Representation in Congress
Political scientists have demonstrated the importance of lawmakers’ identities, showing that race, gender, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation affect legislative and representational behavior. Is the same true for age? We argue it is, but the effect is conditioned by the salience of different “senior issues.” Analyzing the bill introductions by members of Congress during the 109th and 110th Congresses, we show that older lawmakers are mo…
Minority Party Capacity in Congress
When, and under what circumstances, are congressional minority parties capable of influencing legislative outcomes? We argue that the capacity of the minority party to exert legislative influence is a function of three factors:constraintson the majority party, which createopportunitiesfor the minority party; minority partycohesionon the issue at hand; and sufficientmotivationfor the minority to engage in legislating rather than electioneering. Dr…
What Is Regular Order Worth? Partisan Lawmaking and Congressional Processes
Scholars and other congressional observers argue that the erosion of so-called regular order legislative processes exacerbates partisan conflict in Congress. In this article, we investigate whether laws passed via more unorthodox and leadership-led legislative processes garner less bipartisan support than those passed under regular order processes. Drawing on an original data set of important laws passed by Congress from 1987 to 2016 (the 100th–1…
Interpersonal Relationships and Legislative Collaboration in Congress
Do interpersonal relationships among and between representatives and senators affect legislative collaboration in the contemporary Congress? The extant literature on Congress suggests interpersonal dimensions of life on Capitol Hill should play a minimal role in the legislative process. However, research in other fields, including psychology, finds that relationships are crucially important within organizations. In addition, many contemporary acc…
Congressional Processes and Public Approval of New Laws
Does how Congress makes a law affect public approval of that law? This question has been little studied, but the rising use of unorthodox processes in Congress raises concerns about the perceived legitimacy of congressional action among the public. Utilizing two unique survey experiments, I present evidence that when people are aware of the use of unorthodox legislative processes they express lower levels of approval for new laws. This effect is …
The Impact of District Magnitude on Campaign Fundraising
The number of legislators elected in a single district influences many aspects of state legislative elections. However, there is a dearth of research on how district magnitude influences campaign fundraising. We theorize that the greater competition for funds in multimember districts results in candidates raising less money and encourages them to be more entrepreneurial in their fundraising efforts. Specifically, we expect multimember district ca…
Issue Voting and Partisan Defections in Congressional Elections
In every election cycle the fate of some candidates is determined by partisans who defect from their usual voting habits to cast a ballot for the candidate of the opposing party. Defections in congressional elections have been attributed to incumbency, presidential approval, partisan strength, and factors related to individual voters. Our systematic assessment of the impact of issues on voter defections shows that party‐owned issues and performan…
State Congressional Delegations and the Distribution of Federal Funds
Most scholarship on U.S. distributive politics either focuses on the abilities of individual representatives and senators to bring home the bacon or highlights the role the president plays in influencing funding decisions. Little attention is paid to collective efforts in Congress involved in securing grants-in-aid to states. In this paper, we assess how characteristics of House and Senate state delegations affect the collective efforts of a stat…
The Impact of District Magnitude on the Legislative Behavior of State Representatives
This study demonstrates that district magnitude (the number of officials elected from an electoral district) affects the behavioral choices and policymaking contributions of legislators. We theorize that legislators elected from districts of larger magnitudes focus much of their efforts on relatively low-cost, high-visibility activities that allow for easy credit claiming, while their colleagues from lower magnitude districts focus more on relati…
The Impact of District Magnitude on Voter Drop‐Off and Roll‐Off in American Elections
This study demonstrates that multimember districts (MMDs) complicate ballots, reduce voter information, and increase incentives for strategic voting in ways that reduce voter participation. Using data from three states that elect members of at least one legislative chamber from both single‐member districts (SMDs) and MMDs, we test hypotheses about the impact on MMDs on ballot drop‐off (selecting fewer candidates for an office than permissible) an…
On the Congress Beat: How the Structure of News Shapes Coverage of Congressional Action
Scholars have long criticized media coverage of Congress for its focus on conflict over policy substance. To uncover the drivers of this focus, we examine news coverage of the congressional response to COVID-19. We select the COVID-19 response as an extreme case of Congress coalescing quickly to address a major national crisis in an almost entirely bipartisan way. Our study confirms prior research documenting a media preference for conflict narra…
The Separation of Powers and Policymaking in the US States
Do the separation of powers dynamics in the United States affect policymaking outcomes? Scholars and observers of national politics have long expected that they do, but since there has been little meaningful variation in the constitutional separation of powers system, it has been difficult to conduct empirical assessments. We turn to the American states, were there is variation from state to state in separation of powers institutions. Drawing on …
Interpersonal Relationships, Bipartisanship, and January 6th
For a member of Congress to be a successful lawmaker, they must work collaboratively with their colleagues. Previous work has found that interpersonal relationships among lawmakers are a key predictor of legislative collaboration-particularly among members from opposing parties. In the wake of the events of January 6, 2021, many Democratic lawmakers claimed that their relationships with some of their Republican colleagues were irretrievably broke…
In-Depth Qualitative Research and the Study of American Political Institutions
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Publishing Bessie head: Memories and reflections
(2005). Publishing Bessie head: Memories and reflections. Wasafiri: Vol. 20, No. 46, pp. 19-26
Publishing Bessie head: Memories and reflections
(2005). Publishing Bessie head: Memories and reflections. Wasafiri: Vol. 20, No. 46, pp. 19-26
Issue Voting and Partisan Defections in Congressional Elections
In every election cycle the fate of some candidates is determined by partisans who defect from their usual voting habits to cast a ballot for the candidate of the opposing party. Defections in congressional elections have been attributed to incumbency, presidential approval, partisan strength, and factors related to individual voters. Our systematic assessment of the impact of issues on voter defections shows that party‐owned issues and performan…
The Impact of District Magnitude on Campaign Fundraising
The number of legislators elected in a single district influences many aspects of state legislative elections. However, there is a dearth of research on how district magnitude influences campaign fundraising. We theorize that the greater competition for funds in multimember districts results in candidates raising less money and encourages them to be more entrepreneurial in their fundraising efforts. Specifically, we expect multimember district ca…
Legislating in the Dark: Information and Power in the House of Representatives
The Impact of District Magnitude on Voter Drop‐Off and Roll‐Off in American Elections
This study demonstrates that multimember districts (MMDs) complicate ballots, reduce voter information, and increase incentives for strategic voting in ways that reduce voter participation. Using data from three states that elect members of at least one legislative chamber from both single‐member districts (SMDs) and MMDs, we test hypotheses about the impact on MMDs on ballot drop‐off (selecting fewer candidates for an office than permissible) an…
Why Washington Won’t Work
In-Depth Qualitative Research and the Study of American Political Institutions
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
The Impact of District Magnitude on the Legislative Behavior of State Representatives
This study demonstrates that district magnitude (the number of officials elected from an electoral district) affects the behavioral choices and policymaking contributions of legislators. We theorize that legislators elected from districts of larger magnitudes focus much of their efforts on relatively low-cost, high-visibility activities that allow for easy credit claiming, while their colleagues from lower magnitude districts focus more on relati…
Lawmaker Age, Issue Salience, and Senior Representation in Congress
Political scientists have demonstrated the importance of lawmakers’ identities, showing that race, gender, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation affect legislative and representational behavior. Is the same true for age? We argue it is, but the effect is conditioned by the salience of different “senior issues.” Analyzing the bill introductions by members of Congress during the 109th and 110th Congresses, we show that older lawmakers are mo…
Legislative Style
In this impressive book, William Bernhard and Tracy Sulkin resuscitate the study of “Hill styles,” producing the most comprehensive study to date of how members of Congress approach their jobs and how differences in their legislative styles influence congressional politics. Drawing on a tremendous volume of more than 20 years of data and employing “an inductive, data-centered approach, to group legislators by their behavior” (p. 206), Bernhard an…
Congressional Processes and Public Approval of New Laws
Does how Congress makes a law affect public approval of that law? This question has been little studied, but the rising use of unorthodox processes in Congress raises concerns about the perceived legitimacy of congressional action among the public. Utilizing two unique survey experiments, I present evidence that when people are aware of the use of unorthodox legislative processes they express lower levels of approval for new laws. This effect is …
Non-Party Government: Bipartisan Lawmaking and Party Power in Congress
Majority leaders of the contemporary Congress preside over parties that are more cohesive than at any point in the modern era, and power has been centralized in party leadership offices. Do today’s majority parties succeed in enacting their legislative agendas to a greater extent than the less-cohesive parties of earlier eras? To address this question, we examine votes on all laws enacted from 1973–2016, as well as on the subset of landmark laws …
Knowledge, Expertise, and Committee Power in the Contemporary Congress
Scholars, practitioners, and observers typically portray committee influence as rooted in traditional congressional processes and practices, which are thought to provide committees with powerful opportunities to block and shape legislative proposals. The erosion of regular order processes suggests these traditional processes cannot underlie committee power in the contemporary Congress. Drawing on a mixed‐methods approach of interviews with congre…
The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Era
What Is Regular Order Worth? Partisan Lawmaking and Congressional Processes
Scholars and other congressional observers argue that the erosion of so-called regular order legislative processes exacerbates partisan conflict in Congress. In this article, we investigate whether laws passed via more unorthodox and leadership-led legislative processes garner less bipartisan support than those passed under regular order processes. Drawing on an original data set of important laws passed by Congress from 1987 to 2016 (the 100th–1…
State Congressional Delegations and the Distribution of Federal Funds
Most scholarship on U.S. distributive politics either focuses on the abilities of individual representatives and senators to bring home the bacon or highlights the role the president plays in influencing funding decisions. Little attention is paid to collective efforts in Congress involved in securing grants-in-aid to states. In this paper, we assess how characteristics of House and Senate state delegations affect the collective efforts of a stat…
Minority Party Capacity in Congress
When, and under what circumstances, are congressional minority parties capable of influencing legislative outcomes? We argue that the capacity of the minority party to exert legislative influence is a function of three factors:constraintson the majority party, which createopportunitiesfor the minority party; minority partycohesionon the issue at hand; and sufficientmotivationfor the minority to engage in legislating rather than electioneering. Dr…
Interpersonal Relationships and Legislative Collaboration in Congress
Do interpersonal relationships among and between representatives and senators affect legislative collaboration in the contemporary Congress? The extant literature on Congress suggests interpersonal dimensions of life on Capitol Hill should play a minimal role in the legislative process. However, research in other fields, including psychology, finds that relationships are crucially important within organizations. In addition, many contemporary acc…
Congressional Earmarks and Credit Claiming in a Partisan Era
In 2021, congressional Democrats brought back earmarks. Proponents of earmarks argue that they can help members of Congress in their quest for reelection by giving them crucial credit claiming fodder, and as a result can help build support for legislation by adding particularistic benefits to legislative packages. Earlier research provides some support for these arguments, but changes to American politics over the last few decades call into quest…
When Politics Is Not Pivotal: Supermajority Debate Rules in State Legislatures
The 60‐vote end‐debate threshold is a key institution in the United States Senate. Most winning coalitions require 60 votes, effectively giving veto power to a minority of senators. But do supermajority debate rules necessarily translate into minority veto power? We examine this in state legislatures, where there is far more variation in whether chamber rules require a majority or a supermajority of legislators to cut off debate. Across multiple …
Unorthodox Lawmaking and the Value of Committee Assignments
On the Congress Beat: How the Structure of News Shapes Coverage of Congressional Action
Scholars have long criticized media coverage of Congress for its focus on conflict over policy substance. To uncover the drivers of this focus, we examine news coverage of the congressional response to COVID-19. We select the COVID-19 response as an extreme case of Congress coalescing quickly to address a major national crisis in an almost entirely bipartisan way. Our study confirms prior research documenting a media preference for conflict narra…
The Separation of Powers and Policymaking in the US States
Do the separation of powers dynamics in the United States affect policymaking outcomes? Scholars and observers of national politics have long expected that they do, but since there has been little meaningful variation in the constitutional separation of powers system, it has been difficult to conduct empirical assessments. We turn to the American states, were there is variation from state to state in separation of powers institutions. Drawing on …
Interpersonal Relationships, Bipartisanship, and January 6th
For a member of Congress to be a successful lawmaker, they must work collaboratively with their colleagues. Previous work has found that interpersonal relationships among lawmakers are a key predictor of legislative collaboration-particularly among members from opposing parties. In the wake of the events of January 6, 2021, many Democratic lawmakers claimed that their relationships with some of their Republican colleagues were irretrievably broke…
Political science (20 works) · Electoral Systems and Political Participation (18 works) · Law (17 works) · Law (15 works) · Public Administration (15 works) · Legislature (14 works) · Public Administration (13 works) · Politics (11 works) · Economics (9 works) · Judicial and Constitutional Studies (9 works)