Constituency Influence on House Roll-Call Votes in the Progressive Era, 1913-1915

Abstract

This research reviews techniques for measuring constituency opinion in policy congruence analyses. It introduces a new use of referenda votes for investigation of state-national policy linkages in the Progressive Era. Findings demonstrate the importance of constituency opinion and of regional and partisan influences in nationalizing major legislation in three policy areas: labor, woman suffrage, and prohibition. Analysis of historical congruency patterns also illustrates the complex interrelationships between democratic processes and policy outcomes, parallelling contemporary