Do Local Roots Impact Washington Behaviors? District Connections and Representation in the U.S. Congress
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7250663 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jesse Crosson (0000-0003-4880-1037, Purdue University West Lafayette, corresponding author), Jaclyn Kaslovsky (0000-0002-4491-2891, Rice University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 119 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 887-904 |
| Publication date | 2024-08-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Political Science Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-0554 • E-ISSN: 1537-5943 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s000305542400056x |
| OpenAlex | W4401258597 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 58 |
Although commentators often point to the political value of legislators’ geographic ties, less is known about the influence of such connections once in office. Given recent scholarship underscoring the importance of geography as a dimension of identity, we argue that local legislators should behave as descriptive representatives. We collect the hometowns of all members of Congress with known birth locations from 1789 to 2020 to analyze how being born near one’s district impacts legislator behavior. We connect these data to information on a series of behaviors, finding that local legislators emphasize constituency work over policymaking and party-building. Moreover, while local legislators do not demonstrate substantively less partisan unity in roll-call voting, they attract a higher percentage of out-party cosponsors to their bills. Together, our results point to important representational implications regarding the geographic roots of legislators and the role of local connections in the contemporary Congress
Dimension (graph theory · Identity (music · Legislation · Legislator · Legislature · Point (geometry · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Representation (politics · Scholarship · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Voting · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration
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| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |