What Do Key Votes Measure?

Abstract

Congressional Quarterly's key votes are examined on two of the organization's stated criteria: legislative controversy and presidential power. Key votes reveal greater internal conflict but less controversy than do all roll-call votes in Congress. At least for Republican presidents, key votes are a very parsimonious (i.e., consistent) measure of congressional support for presidents. We conclude that key votes are a better measure of presidential power than they are of controversy in Congress.