Marching Orders? U.S. Party Platforms and Legislative Agenda Setting 1948–2014

Bibliographic Data

ID7972082
AuthorsE J Fagan (0000-0003-4432-8000, The University of Texas at Austin, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume71
Issue4
Pages949-959
Publication date2018-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Research Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1065-9129 • E-ISSN: 1938-274X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1065912918772681
OpenAlexW2802570139
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited43

What is the relationship between the priorities expressed in party platforms before an election and the subsequent legislative agenda? The agenda setting literature often deemphasizes the role of political parties in agenda setting, instead focusing on the importance of problems bubbling up to the surface and demanding attention from policymakers. However, parties will often express different issue priorities during elections, and compete based on those priorities. If those promises are credible, voters should be able to choose between different sets of priorities during elections. The paper utilizes new data from the U.S. Policy Agendas Project and Wolbrecht on policy attention in U.S. party platforms to study the relationship between U.S. parties and legislative activities in Congress. A time-series cross-sectional analysis finds strong evidence to support the proposition that legislative agendas are influenced by the platform of the President’s party in the short term, although the relationship differs for different types of agendas and by issue, and fades over time

Economics · General election · Legislature · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Primary election · Proposition · Public relations · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration · Social Media and Politics

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