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Congressional Elections (congressional + elections)
Selected AbstractsDistrict Complexity as an Advantage in Congressional ElectionsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2009Michael J. Ensley Scholars of congressional elections have argued that an increase in constituent diversity increases the level of electoral competition. Following models of boundedly rational candidates, we argue that there is strong reason to believe that the opposite is true. As the complexity of the electoral landscape increases, challengers will have a more difficult time locating an optimal platform when facing an experienced incumbent. Using data from the 2000 National Annenberg Election Study, we construct a novel measure of district complexity for U.S. House districts and test whether the entry of quality challengers and the incumbent's share of the two-party vote are affected by the complexity of the electoral landscape. We find strong support for the hypothesis that complexity benefits incumbents for both indicators of electoral competition, which stands in contrast to most of the existing literature on diversity and incumbent performance. [source] The Mexican Presidential and Congressional Elections of 2000 and Democratic TransitionBULLETIN OF LATIN AMERICAN RESEARCH, Issue 3 2001Darren Wallis The article examines the presidential and congressional elections of July 2000 in Mexico. The elections brought to an end more than 70 years of single party government and the culmination of a gradual democratisation process stretching back at least a decade. The long term decline in the bases of support for the regime and the changing institutional rules for elections and parties are described by way of contextualising the campaign itself and its leading protagonists. While the new rules of the game guaranteed free and fair elections, issues of internal party democracy and negative, personality-based campaigning do not paint a universally rosy democratic picture. Analysis of the election results demonstrates how the opposition was able to move beyond its traditional geographic confines and challenge across the country. However, voters did not give an unambiguous victory to Vicente Fox; his alliance does not possess a majority in either house of congress. Divided government and developments in the party system are considered as two key issues that will shape Mexico's democratic future. [source] Campaign War Chests, Entry Deterrence, and Voter RationalityECONOMICS & POLITICS, Issue 3 2002Dhammika Dharmapala It is often claimed that the accumulation of "war chests" by incumbents deters entry by high,quality challengers in Congressional elections. This paper presents a game,theoretic analysis of the interaction between an incumbent, potential challengers, an interest group, and a representative (rational) voter, where the incumbent's "quality" (or "legislative effectiveness") is known to the interest group, but not to the voter or to potential challengers. Under certain conditions, a perfectly revealing equilibrium exists; the incumbent signals her quality by raising funds from the interest group to accumulate a war chest. The entry deterrence effect thus operates solely through the role of war chests in signaling incumbent quality. [source] The Spiral of Silence and Fear of IsolationJOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 3 2007Kurt Neuwirth This research explores the relationship between fear of isolation and allied concepts derived from the communication apprehension (CA) literature,CA-trait and CA-state,on opinion expression. The study took place during the final run-up to the Fall 2002 U.S. Congressional elections, and the research topic focused on the debate surrounding the possibility of the United States invading Iraq. The results suggest that (a) CA-trait, CA-state, and fear of isolation are empirically distinct; (b) these constructs differentially predict opinion expression; and (c) customary ways of assessing opinion expression in past research likely have underestimated conformity effects. Résumé Une solution structurelle aux dilemmes de communication dans une communauté virtuelle Dans un contexte de communication multivoque comme celui d'une communauté virtuelle, les individus peuvent être fortement tentés de profiter des contributions des autres tout en s,abstenant eux-mêmes de contribuer, ce qui en définitive mènerait à l'effondrement de la communauté. Afin de trouver une solution structurelle au « dilemme de communication », cette étude a comparé le rendement de deux structures de communication : l,une fondée sur les réseaux interpersonnels (NEX)(p. ex. les blogues) et l'autre s,appuyant sur un babillard électronique public (GEX). Dans le cadre d'une expérience longitudinale inter-sujets de 2 x 2 x 2, il est apparu que de changer GEX pour NEX pourrait augmenter le nombre de contributions faites par des individus. De plus, il fut observé que NEXétait une structure efficace pour la communication N personnes, particulièrement lorsqu,un grand nombre d'individus étaient impliqués. Les conclusions laissent entendre que la motivation incitant à coopérer d,un individu est fonction de la structure incitative d'une forme particulière d'échange d,information, ce qui signifie que de modifier la forme de l'échange peut être une solution possible aux dilemmes de communication dans les communautés virtuelles. Abstract Schweigespirale und Isolationsfurcht Vorliegender Beitrag untersucht die Beziehung zwischen Isolationsfurcht und aus der Literatur zur Kommunikationsangst (KA) hergeleiteten verwandten Konzepten (KA-Persönlichkeitsmerkmal und KA-Zustand) in Bezug auf die Meinungsäußerung einer Person. Die Studie wurde während der Hauptphase der U.S.-amerikanischen Kongresswahlen im Herbst 2002 durchgeführt und fokussierte die Debatte um die Möglichkeit des Einmarsches amerikanischer Truppen in den Irak. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass 1) KA-Persönlichkeitsmerkmal, KA-Zustand und Isolationsangst empirisch abgrenzbar sind, 2) diese Konstrukte Meinungsäußerung auf verschiedene Weise vorhersagen und 3) die klassische Art und Weise der Erfassung von Meinungsäußerungen in der Forschung bislang Konformitätseffekte unterschätzt hat. Resumen El Espiral del Silencio y el Miedo al Aislamiento Esta investigación explora la relación entre el Miedo al Aislamiento y conceptos aliados derivados de la literatura sobre Aprehensión Comunicacional (CA) --CA-como Rasgo y CA-como Estado,en la expresión de la opinión. El estudio se llevó a cabo durante la última ronda en las elecciones para el Congreso en el Otoño del 2002 y el tema de investigación se enfocó en el debate alrededor de la posibilidad de que los Estados Unidos invadieran Irak. Los resultados sugieren que 1) CA-como Rasgo, CA-como Estado, y el Miedo al Aislamiento son empíricamente distintos; 2) estos constructores predicen la expresión de opiniones en forma diferencial; y 3) las formas habituales de evaluar la expresión de opinión en investigaciones anteriores han probablemente subestimado los efectos de conformidad. ZhaiYao Yo yak [source] Affirmative Districting and Four Decades of Redistricting: The Seats/Votes Relationship 1972-2008POLITICS & POLICY, Issue 2 2010THEODORE S. ARRINGTON How has the partisan seat/vote relationship in U.S. congressional elections changed in the four reapportionment cycles since 1970? Concern about a biased and unresponsive districting system and "vanishing marginals" has increased because of the affirmative districting to create minority-majority districts after 1990. The 1990 redistricting cycle did not give Republicans an unfair advantage in the seat/vote relationship nationwide or in the southern states, but it may have reduced a previous Democratic bias. The 2000 cycle may have given the GOP a slight advantage. More recent districting cycles with affirmative districting have increased both the responsiveness of congressional elections and the number of opposed contests. ¿Cuánto ha cambiado la relación asiento/voto en las elecciones estadounidenses al congreso en los cuatro ciclos de redistritación desde 1970? La preocupación de que emerja un sistema de redistritación poco conducente a la responsabilidad legislativa ante el electorado ha incrementado a causa de rediseño afirmativo de distritos mayoría-minoría después de 1990. El ciclo de redistritación de 1990 no les brindó a los Republicanos una ventaja injusta en la relación asiento/voto a nivel nacional o en los estados sureños, pero pudo haber reducido la inercia electoral que venía favoreciendo a los Demócratas. El ciclo del año 2000 pudo haberle dado al Partido Republicano una leve ventaja. A partir de estos hallazgos sostenemos que ciclos de redistritación reciente, con un rediseño afirmativo, han incrementado tanto la responsabilidad legislativa ante el electorado, como el número de los contendientes electorales. [source] District Complexity as an Advantage in Congressional ElectionsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2009Michael J. Ensley Scholars of congressional elections have argued that an increase in constituent diversity increases the level of electoral competition. Following models of boundedly rational candidates, we argue that there is strong reason to believe that the opposite is true. As the complexity of the electoral landscape increases, challengers will have a more difficult time locating an optimal platform when facing an experienced incumbent. Using data from the 2000 National Annenberg Election Study, we construct a novel measure of district complexity for U.S. House districts and test whether the entry of quality challengers and the incumbent's share of the two-party vote are affected by the complexity of the electoral landscape. We find strong support for the hypothesis that complexity benefits incumbents for both indicators of electoral competition, which stands in contrast to most of the existing literature on diversity and incumbent performance. [source] Redistricting, Candidate Entry, and the Politics of Nineteenth-Century U.S. House ElectionsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2006Jamie L. Carson The effects of redistricting on candidate entry patterns in contemporary House races has received growing attention in the scholarly literature, yet virtually no consideration has been given to this question in the context of historical elections. This is unfortunate as the wider variation in congressional redistricting during the nineteenth century gives us increased leverage in terms of understanding strategic candidate behavior. Utilizing a new dataset of candidate quality for nineteenth-century House races, we examine whether candidates with prior electoral experience are more likely to run in districts that are altered during the redistricting process, and provide an account of how differences in the prevalence of redistricting may affect strategic entry decisions of politicians. Our results suggest that entry decisions and electoral outcomes are affected by redistricting in this era. Moreover, our analysis provides an opportunity to use history to test contemporary theories of congressional elections in a broader context. [source] The Mexican Presidential and Congressional Elections of 2000 and Democratic TransitionBULLETIN OF LATIN AMERICAN RESEARCH, Issue 3 2001Darren Wallis The article examines the presidential and congressional elections of July 2000 in Mexico. The elections brought to an end more than 70 years of single party government and the culmination of a gradual democratisation process stretching back at least a decade. The long term decline in the bases of support for the regime and the changing institutional rules for elections and parties are described by way of contextualising the campaign itself and its leading protagonists. While the new rules of the game guaranteed free and fair elections, issues of internal party democracy and negative, personality-based campaigning do not paint a universally rosy democratic picture. Analysis of the election results demonstrates how the opposition was able to move beyond its traditional geographic confines and challenge across the country. However, voters did not give an unambiguous victory to Vicente Fox; his alliance does not possess a majority in either house of congress. Divided government and developments in the party system are considered as two key issues that will shape Mexico's democratic future. [source] | ||||||||||