This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Ahuja, S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Electoral Status and Representation in the United States Senate

Does Temporal Proximity to Election Matter?

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

That an upcoming election will sensitize representatives to the wishes of the represented appears to be a theoretically sound hypothesis. Previous tests of this proposition, however, provide inconsistent results. Also, measures used in previous research to examine intraterm changes vary significantly and are usually inadequate. Using data obtained from the American National Election Studies' 1988 and 1990 Senate Election Studies, the author tests the hypothesis that the relationship between state constituency opinion and senators' roll call behavior is a function of senators' proximity to the next election. Analyses reveal that those senators facing reelection in a particular year are considerably more responsive to their constituency's preferences than those who are not up for reelection. Moreover, among the remaining two-thirds, those 2 years away from a reelection display greater responsiveness to their constituency than those 4 years away. This study concludes that the temporal proximity to election does matter in senatorial voting behavior.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?