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Measuring Legislative Accomplishment, 1877–1994

Bibliographic Data

ID6231989
AuthorsJoshua D Clinton (0000-0003-1683-9479, Princeton University), John S Lapinski (0000-0002-9328-8984, Yale University)
Year2006
Volume50
Issue1
Pages232-249
Publication date2006-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1540-5907.2006.00181.x
OpenAlexW2001119786
LanguageEN
Citations received64
References cited50

Understanding the dynamics of lawmaking in the United States is at the center of the study of American politics. A fundamental obstacle to progress in this pursuit is the lack of measures of policy output, especially for the period prior to 1946. The lack of direct legislative accomplishment measures makes it difficult to assess the performance of our political system. We provide a new measure of legislative significance and accomplishment. Specifically, we demonstrate how item‐response theory can be combined with a new dataset that contains every public statute enacted between 1877 and 1994 to estimate “legislative importance” across time. Although the resulting estimates and associated standard errors provide new opportunities for scholars interested in analyzing U.S. policymaking since 1877, the methodology we present is not restricted to Congress, the United States, or lawmaking

Economics · Law and economics · Lawmaking · Legislature · Obstacle · Political science · Politics · Statute · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration

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Unique citing works64
Citations per year3,2
Citation span2006 - 2025 (20)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 64

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