Jac C Heckelman
Biographic Data
| ID | 308926 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jac C Heckelman |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jac C |
| FAMILY NAME | Heckelman |
| SIGNATURE | HECKELMAN J C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Wake Forest University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7984-0181 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 42 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 143 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 42 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1995 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Aid, Reform, and Interest groups
The Roots of Direct Democracy in the United States: South Dakota’s 1898 Referendum Creating the First Statewide Initiative Process
We investigate voter preferences for changes in voting rules, focusing specifically on the creation of citizen-initiative processes that were originally adopted in South Dakota in 1898 and eventually enacted by half of the states. Various claims have been advanced about why the process was adopted and who supported or opposed it, but without presenting evidence from referenda where voters approved the creation of the process. We test these claims…
When ties are possible: Weak Condorcet winners and Arrovian rationality
Characterizing plurality using the majoritarian condition: A new proof and implications for other scoring rules
Targeting inflation targeting: The influence of interest groups
Don’t You be My Neighbor: Support for Racial-Exclusion Constitutional Provisions in Mid-19th Century Indiana and Illinois
Racially discriminatory provisions in the U.S. Constitution and southern state constitutions have been extensively analyzed, but insufficient attention has been brought to these provisions when included in northern state constitutions. We examine constitutional provisions excluding blacks from entering the state that were adopted by various northern states in the mid-19th Century. Previous scholarship has focused on the statements and votes of th…
The probability of violating Arrow’s conditions
Stability and Contingency in Federalism Preferences
This article analyzes Americans’ preferences for making policy at the national versus the subnational level. Relying on a Pew Research Center survey question posed in multiple recent years, we investigate the extent to which partisanship and ideology are related to support for decentralization. As expected, Republicans and conservatives are more supportive of decentralization, whereas Democrats and liberals are less supportive. However, Republica…
Support for Progressive Reforms: Evidence from California's 1911 Referenda
An analysis of county-level election results in a 1911 California special election in which voters considered multiple state constitutional amendments-women's suffrage, direct democracy, home rule, worker safety, and business regulation-finds that certain socially active Protestant denominations endorsed most of these reforms. Otherwise, support for these measures showed little group uniformity. Urban counties favored several reforms but opposed …
Voting on Prohibition: Disentangling Preferences on Alcohol and Decentralization
We contribute to an understanding of the determinants of voter support for US prohibition policies in the early 1900s, by separating substantive preferences for wet versus dry policies from preferences for centralized versus decentralized control. Prior studies of prohibition referenda have generated various conclusions about which groups supported and opposed prohibition, whether regarding the role of religion, urban/rural residence, immigrant s…
Tullock on the organization of scientific inquiry
A note on majority rule and neutrality with an application to state votes at the Constitutional Convention of 1787
Guest editor’s introduction to the symposium on the 50th anniversary of Olson’s Logic of Collective Action
Support for Repealing Prohibition: An Analysis of State‐Wide Referenda on Ratifying the 21st Amendment
Objectives The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution repealing national prohibition is the only amendment ratified by state conventions rather than state legislatures. The referenda held to select delegates for these conventions offer a promising source of data for identifying determinants of support for prohibition repeal. Methods We use various proxy measures to determine the importance of economic, political, and demographic forces in motiva…
A Spatial Analysis of Delegate Voting at the Constitutional Convention
Previous studies of the U.S. Constitutional Convention have relied on votes recorded for the state blocs or a relatively small number of delegate votes. We construct a new data set covering delegate votes on over 600 substantive roll calls, and use the data in several ways. First, we estimate a single dimensional position for the delegates which reflects their overall voting patterns. Next, we explain these positions using a variety of delegate a…
Has Assistance from Usaid been Successful for Democratization? Evidence from the Transition Economies of Eastern Europe and Eurasia
Over the past 20 years, democracy promotion has become a pillar of USAID's mission. We assess the success of US aid by testing whether it is enhancing democracy in a panel of 26 transition countries. Using Freedom House Nations in Transit data, we find that aid has generally not been a significant factor in a country's overall democracy score, but has significantly contributed to certain components of the democracy score, namely civil society, el…
A New Dataset of Delegate Positions on All Substantive Roll Calls at the U.S. Constitutional Convention
Delegate level analysis of the U.S. Constitutional Convention has been limited because the Convention did not record delegate votes. In this article, we introduce the Constitutional Convention Research Group Dataset, which contains 5,121 inferred delegate votes on 620 substantive roll calls at the Convention. The Constitutional Convention Research Group Dataset represents a significant improvement over previous datasets such as those compiled by …
Special-interest groups and growth
Personalty interests at the Constitutional Convention: New tests of the Beard thesis
Convergence and divergence in state political behavior, 1970–2004
In view of the ongoing debate about the degree and direction of political polarization in the U.S., we assess whether the 50 states are converging or diverging in their behavior in state and federal elections. We find that states are diverging in their behavior in federal elections but converging in their behavior in state elections. Previous scholars have shown the need to distinguish between the degree of polarization of elites and ordinary cit…
Relationships among democratic freedoms in the former Soviet Republics: A causality analysis
A Rational Choice Model for the Dakota Effect
In a recent issue, Young and Sigelman (2008) present evidence of a “Dakota effect,” in which persons born in the Dakotas are disproportionately likely to represent their home state, other states, and also generate government spending directed toward the Dakotas. These authors are unable to explain the causal underpinnings for overrepresentation in Congress or the Dakotan natives' keen ability to direct pork back to these two states
Senate Elections With Independent Candidates
Assuming strict two-party competition, policy balancing models of the US senate imply that senators from the same state will often be from opposite parties and have great ideological divergence. We analyze the effect of independent candidates on these implications. Our theoretical model implies the two state senators will generally not be from opposite parties and will be closer in ideological space than if they were elected under strict two-part…
Voting on slavery at the Constitutional Convention
This paper provides the first empirical study of delegate voting behavior on issues of slavery at the U.S. Constitutional Convention. We analyze two categories of votes: those related to apportionment and those related to the regulation of the slave trade. Although it is widely believed that delegates voted consistent with the interests of their states on issues of slavery, we find that for votes on apportionment, the effect of state interests wa…
Foreign Aid and Market‐Liberalizing Reform
Market‐oriented economic policies have been strongly linked to faster rates of economic growth. Foreign aid is often provided in part to encourage market‐oriented reforms. We analyse the impact of aid on market‐liberalizing policy reform, correcting for its potential endogeneity. Results indicate that higher aid slowed reform over the 1980–2000 period, as measured by a broad index of policies. Disaggregating policy into five areas, aid is associa…
The effect of the secret ballot on voter turnout rates
A Pivotal Voter from a Pivotal State: Roger Sherman at the Constitutional Convention
Robertson (2005) and Rakove (1996) argue that Roger Sherman was surprisingly influential at the Constitutional Convention. Using empirically estimated ideal points, we show that Sherman was a pivotal voter from a pivotal state. We also demonstrate that if the votes were tallied by individual delegates, rather than being grouped by the home state, then Sherman would have been less pivotal. This suggests that the voting procedures adopted at the Co…
Interest Groups and Investment: A Further Test of the Olson Hypothesis
Foreign Aid and Market‐Liberalizing Reform
Market‐oriented economic policies have been strongly linked to faster rates of economic growth. Foreign aid is often provided in part to encourage market‐oriented reforms. We analyse the impact of aid on market‐liberalizing policy reform, correcting for its potential endogeneity. Results indicate that higher aid slowed reform over the 1980–2000 period, as measured by a broad index of policies. Disaggregating policy into five areas, aid is associa…
Consistent Estimates of the Impact of Special Interest Groups on Economic Growth
Voting on slavery at the Constitutional Convention
This paper provides the first empirical study of delegate voting behavior on issues of slavery at the U.S. Constitutional Convention. We analyze two categories of votes: those related to apportionment and those related to the regulation of the slave trade. Although it is widely believed that delegates voted consistent with the interests of their states on issues of slavery, we find that for votes on apportionment, the effect of state interests wa…
Determinants of interest group formation
Bribing voters without verification
This article distinguishes between two types of vote buying mechanisms. If vote choices can be monitored, vote buyers will not discriminate amongst prospective voters, regardless of how they are expected to vote. If voting is secret, a vote buyer will pay opposition voters not to vote which forces the opposition to pay its own voters to ensure they do vote. This implies the secret ballot may be less effective in curbing bribery than originally th…
A Spatial Analysis of Delegate Voting at the Constitutional Convention
Previous studies of the U.S. Constitutional Convention have relied on votes recorded for the state blocs or a relatively small number of delegate votes. We construct a new data set covering delegate votes on over 600 substantive roll calls, and use the data in several ways. First, we estimate a single dimensional position for the delegates which reflects their overall voting patterns. Next, we explain these positions using a variety of delegate a…
The anti-tobacco movement in the Progressive Era: A case study of direct democracy in Oregon
An Economic Interpretation of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 Revisited
Empirical studies ofdelegatevoting at the Constitutional Convention have relied on the same 16 roll call votes. This article re-examines various assumptions used in the collection of these data. We first create a baseline regression. We then consider the effect of dropping delegates not in attendance, re-inferring the votes from primary sources, examining various subsamples of the roll calls, and reconstructing constituency variables to include s…
Support for Repealing Prohibition: An Analysis of State‐Wide Referenda on Ratifying the 21st Amendment
Objectives The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution repealing national prohibition is the only amendment ratified by state conventions rather than state legislatures. The referenda held to select delegates for these conventions offer a promising source of data for identifying determinants of support for prohibition repeal. Methods We use various proxy measures to determine the importance of economic, political, and demographic forces in motiva…
Special-interest groups and growth
A Spatial Model of U.S. Senate Elections
A New Dataset of Delegate Positions on All Substantive Roll Calls at the U.S. Constitutional Convention
Delegate level analysis of the U.S. Constitutional Convention has been limited because the Convention did not record delegate votes. In this article, we introduce the Constitutional Convention Research Group Dataset, which contains 5,121 inferred delegate votes on 620 substantive roll calls at the Convention. The Constitutional Convention Research Group Dataset represents a significant improvement over previous datasets such as those compiled by …
Railroads and Property Taxes
Targeting inflation targeting: The influence of interest groups
Voting on voting with the feet: A cross-county analysis of the Tennessee popular referenda to secede from the union
Electoral Uncertainty and the Macroeconomy: The Evidence from Canada
Don’t You be My Neighbor: Support for Racial-Exclusion Constitutional Provisions in Mid-19th Century Indiana and Illinois
Racially discriminatory provisions in the U.S. Constitution and southern state constitutions have been extensively analyzed, but insufficient attention has been brought to these provisions when included in northern state constitutions. We examine constitutional provisions excluding blacks from entering the state that were adopted by various northern states in the mid-19th Century. Previous scholarship has focused on the statements and votes of th…
Voting on Prohibition: Disentangling Preferences on Alcohol and Decentralization
We contribute to an understanding of the determinants of voter support for US prohibition policies in the early 1900s, by separating substantive preferences for wet versus dry policies from preferences for centralized versus decentralized control. Prior studies of prohibition referenda have generated various conclusions about which groups supported and opposed prohibition, whether regarding the role of religion, urban/rural residence, immigrant s…
Another look at the evidence for rational partisan cycles
Are Public Choice Scholars Different
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
Determining Who Voted in Historical Elections: An Aggregated Logit Approach
The effect of the secret ballot on voter turnout rates
Railroads and Property Taxes
Determining Who Voted in Historical Elections: An Aggregated Logit Approach
Bribing voters without verification
This article distinguishes between two types of vote buying mechanisms. If vote choices can be monitored, vote buyers will not discriminate amongst prospective voters, regardless of how they are expected to vote. If voting is secret, a vote buyer will pay opposition voters not to vote which forces the opposition to pay its own voters to ensure they do vote. This implies the secret ballot may be less effective in curbing bribery than originally th…
Consistent Estimates of the Impact of Special Interest Groups on Economic Growth
Electoral Uncertainty and the Macroeconomy: The Evidence from Canada
Interest Groups and Investment: A Further Test of the Olson Hypothesis
Are Public Choice Scholars Different
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
Randall G. Holcombe, From Liberty to Democracy: The Transformation of American Government
A Spatial Model of U.S. Senate Elections
The anti-tobacco movement in the Progressive Era: A case study of direct democracy in Oregon
Another look at the evidence for rational partisan cycles
A Pivotal Voter from a Pivotal State: Roger Sherman at the Constitutional Convention
Robertson (2005) and Rakove (1996) argue that Roger Sherman was surprisingly influential at the Constitutional Convention. Using empirically estimated ideal points, we show that Sherman was a pivotal voter from a pivotal state. We also demonstrate that if the votes were tallied by individual delegates, rather than being grouped by the home state, then Sherman would have been less pivotal. This suggests that the voting procedures adopted at the Co…
Explaining the Rain: The Rise and Decline of Nations after 25 Years
In the quarter century since the publication of Mancur Olson's Rise and Decline of Nations , a large literature has evolved testing the central hypothesis regarding Olson's thesis on institutional sclerosis. These tests have taken the form of both econometric regression analysis involving a sample of various nations and detailed narrative case studies of specific nations. Tests have appeared in both economics and political science journals as wel…
Voting on voting with the feet: A cross-county analysis of the Tennessee popular referenda to secede from the union
Determinants of interest group formation
An Economic Interpretation of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 Revisited
Empirical studies ofdelegatevoting at the Constitutional Convention have relied on the same 16 roll call votes. This article re-examines various assumptions used in the collection of these data. We first create a baseline regression. We then consider the effect of dropping delegates not in attendance, re-inferring the votes from primary sources, examining various subsamples of the roll calls, and reconstructing constituency variables to include s…
Relationships among democratic freedoms in the former Soviet Republics: A causality analysis
A Rational Choice Model for the Dakota Effect
In a recent issue, Young and Sigelman (2008) present evidence of a “Dakota effect,” in which persons born in the Dakotas are disproportionately likely to represent their home state, other states, and also generate government spending directed toward the Dakotas. These authors are unable to explain the causal underpinnings for overrepresentation in Congress or the Dakotan natives' keen ability to direct pork back to these two states
Senate Elections With Independent Candidates
Assuming strict two-party competition, policy balancing models of the US senate imply that senators from the same state will often be from opposite parties and have great ideological divergence. We analyze the effect of independent candidates on these implications. Our theoretical model implies the two state senators will generally not be from opposite parties and will be closer in ideological space than if they were elected under strict two-part…
Voting on slavery at the Constitutional Convention
This paper provides the first empirical study of delegate voting behavior on issues of slavery at the U.S. Constitutional Convention. We analyze two categories of votes: those related to apportionment and those related to the regulation of the slave trade. Although it is widely believed that delegates voted consistent with the interests of their states on issues of slavery, we find that for votes on apportionment, the effect of state interests wa…
Foreign Aid and Market‐Liberalizing Reform
Market‐oriented economic policies have been strongly linked to faster rates of economic growth. Foreign aid is often provided in part to encourage market‐oriented reforms. We analyse the impact of aid on market‐liberalizing policy reform, correcting for its potential endogeneity. Results indicate that higher aid slowed reform over the 1980–2000 period, as measured by a broad index of policies. Disaggregating policy into five areas, aid is associa…
Personalty interests at the Constitutional Convention: New tests of the Beard thesis
Convergence and divergence in state political behavior, 1970–2004
In view of the ongoing debate about the degree and direction of political polarization in the U.S., we assess whether the 50 states are converging or diverging in their behavior in state and federal elections. We find that states are diverging in their behavior in federal elections but converging in their behavior in state elections. Previous scholars have shown the need to distinguish between the degree of polarization of elites and ordinary cit…
Special-interest groups and growth
Political science (36 works) · Economics (31 works) · Politics (31 works) · Law (28 works) · Electoral Systems and Political Participation (21 works) · Law (18 works) · Public finance (13 works) · Voting (12 works) · Computer Science (11 works) · Law and economics (11 works)