Foxes vs. Hedgehogs in the U.S. Congress

• In Event: Accounting for Success and Effectiveness in Legislatures

Abstract

Members of Congress are naturally generalists, needing to vote on a wide array of issues in each session. In formulating their own legislative portfolios, however, some continue to stretch themselves across many issue areas while others specialize in a few. Do such wide-ranging interests present greater opportunities for legislative success, or is success instead more likely to be achieved via dedicated efforts around a more tailored agenda? In this paper, we explore which congressional lawmakers have specialized and which have advanced diverse agendas over the past five decades. We then test whether one of these approaches yields greater lawmaking success, all else equal.

Authors

• Craig Volden, University of Virginia

• Alan E. Wiseman, Vanderbilt University