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Party Support in the House of Representatives

Generational Replacement, Seniority, or Member Conversion?

University of North Texas

Research exploring variation in party support in Congress often focuses solely on the impact of generational replacement. Generational replacement suggests that new generations of congressmen account for varying levels of party support. Recent work by Rohde (1992) and Hibbing (1992) points to the need to explore life cycle effects and period effects. The life cycle hypothesis suggests that members may become less supportive of party as their tenure increases. Period effects focus on the extent to which variation in party voting is explained by changes in support by continuing members. Cohort analysis allows investigation of each type of effect through measurement of cross-sectional, longitudinal, and time-lag differences. Results do not support a life cycle trend in party support. Findings indicate only limited support for the generational replacement hypothesis with support for the impact of period effects occurring in over 70% of the Congresses analyzed.

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