Search

It is well established in the religion and politics literature that religion is a powerful force in shaping political norms. Scholarship has shown strong relationships between such religious characteristics as affiliation, church attendance, commitment, and participation and political behavior. Much of the research that intersects religion and politics draws a distinction between characteristics that describe religious behavior and those that describe religious beliefs. Often, however, these studies only take into account single variables from this delineation and do not consider the explanatory value that may be found in the interaction between multiple characteristics from the two camps. Moreover, this line of research tends to focus on how religious characteristics influence the political behavior of one particular group, or fails to make distinctions in how religious attributes have differentiating affects among various groups in society. Drawing upon a comprehensive data set that contains extensive religious and political measures, as well as large samples of African Americans, Latinos, and whites, we explore both generalities and specific determinants of religion and political behavior. The comprehensive nature of our data affords us the opportunity to tap into the distinct cultural meanings, interpretations, and practices that exist among racial and ethnic groups. Given the changing American demographics, along with the prominent role religion has played in recent elections, gaining a broader and comparative understanding of how religion impacts political behavior is particularly important. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wealthy citizens are considered overrepresented in civic and political engagement. Schattschneider (1960) argued that high SES citizens tend to engage in political behavior more often. Voting is separate from other forms; Verba and Nie (1972) separated participatory acts from voting. Claggett and Pollock (2006) used factor analysis to conclude that participatory acts are separate; recruitment plays a role.The internet could increase political engagement. Radio and television offer communication from source to recipient. Internet communication is immediate, inexpensive, and interactive. Political campaigns have been using the power of the internet among activists. Powell (et al. 2005) noted the changes in fundraising targets. Social networks and internet engagement are not resource intensive, could be low conflict, and offer collective and cooperative engagement. Brady, Schlozman, and Verba (1999)found that social networks can also be a form of political engagement. American social networks are not usually political, but friends, family, and fellow members of a faith community could help influence political engagement. A second question is whether social networks have little effect, or increase turnout. Has the availability of social networks and the internet, with low costs to recruit nonelite actors, changed the frequency of engagement of citizens? Putnam (2000) argued that television and cohort change together accounted for a large portion of the decline in civic engagement between the immediate WWII era and the late '90's. Social networks and the internet could increase political engagement (measured by probit of ANES participation questions concerning Verba's four areas of engagement), or leave no trace. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The era of devolution and globalization have substantially increased the responsibility of local governments in the process of public policymaking. The changing nature and increased responsibility of cities and their governments creates an opportunity for interested parties to impact policy formulation. This study attempts to uncover the impact of interest groups on policy provision and governmental operation. To do so, we examine the perceptions of public servants. Specifically, public servants are asked to rank the involvement of interest groups in a number of policy areas. Our research then uses multivariate techniques to link interest group activity to the perceived performance of local governments in service delivery and the extent to which local government officials experience conflict, controlling for other environmental and demographic characteristics. This study will compare the impact of interest groups on local policy-making to other potential causes, attempting to determine the degree to which interest groups influence local policy-making. This study should add to the interest group and local politics and policy literatures. The primary source of data for this study is a national survey of governmental officials. The survey population includes mayors, city council members, city managers, and department heads. Approximately 9,800 officials, serving 700 municipalities with populations greater than 10,000, were included in the survey. This research will emphasize the opinions of elected officials as they are arguably the most susceptible to interest group lobbying. Additional data from sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau is used to supplement the survey data where needed. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the United States Supreme Court's recent decision declaring state voter identification laws constitutional, the effect of such laws on voter turnout is still a matter of debate. Opponents charge that voter identification requirements make it more difficult for minorities, the elderly, and the poor to participate. Moreover, some argue that voter identification laws systematically advantage the Republican Party by disproportionately limiting the participation of Democratic voters. We scrutinize these claims by determining which registered voters lack a DMV-issued photo ID. Extending the recent work by Hood and Bullock (2008), which examines the effect of Georgia's voter ID law, we focus our attention on the effect of these requirements in the State of Florida, which has one of the most restrictive voter identification laws in the U.S. Our analyses will be derived from a merged dataset composed of voter registration/vote history data from the State of Florida's Division of Elections and driver's license/state-issued photo identification data from the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voting participation has long been a focus of American democratic theories. Putnam (2000) provided a sociological perspective, while Verba et. al. (1995) and traditional literature on political participation emphasized the political and economic perspectives. Based on Putnam's social capital thesis, it is important to look at an individual's social network. If the network is broken, so is the individual's drive to participate. From the traditional voting literature, however, one needs to focus more on "human capital" (SES) and "political capital" (e.g., parties and interest groups, and racial group as mobilizing political units). We test these hypotheses based on human capital variables and social capital variables, in addition to other controls such as age, internet usage, gender and immigration status. We test both between group differences and within-group differences with GSS data which provides a national sample for racial groups. We use the Bayesian approach to solve some of the methodological problems, especially the issue of missing data and under sampling for minority groups. The most important finding is that while both social capital and human capital are important for white voting participation, for blacks only bonding social capital measured by church attendance is the most important factor in enhancing political participation. SES, on the other hand, does not explain black voting participation. We conclude that social capital does explain voting participation. The utility of social capital theory, however, must be put in a racial context. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research uses a policy feedback model to explain the laggard status of the United States when it comes to electing women to positions of political leadership. Based on data compiled for this project, analyses show how democratic state performance of maternalistic public policies has interpretative and instrumental effects on public attitudes about the suitability of women as political leaders and their election to national legislatures. When analyzing the impact of state maternalism on women's political participation, this project develops an umbrella concept inclusive of welfare provision, gender quotas, and hereditary monarchies. Controlling for a wide range of variables, this research concludes that the laggard status of the American state derives from its failure to "act like a woman" by performing even one maternalist public policies in contrast to most other comparable democracies that characteristically perform several. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thesis statement for this research is the more evidence of religiosity and political consciousness among African-American women, the more likely they will vote and participate in the United States political arena to realize their political interests and aspirations. Religiosity and political consciousness are examined as a combined predictor of voting and progressive political action among African-American women. The political interests and aspirations of African-American women are explored by analyzing their progressive political action in eleven United States Presidential Elections from 1964 through 2004. The Hegelian Dialectic Method was adapted in this study to explain the seven dialectical phases of religiosity and political consciousness as determinants of progressive political action among African-American women. The seven dialectical phases were based on the Hegelian Dialectic that identifies the Absolute Spirit placing emphasis on the dialectical relationship between Spirit, God and historical conditions that society and an individual respectively undergoes. The highest phase of development is the Absolute Spirit. By identifying seven dialectic phases, I posited that religiosity and political consciousness enables African-American women to move increasingly to the highest phase of consciousness: progressive political action. The research methodology employed in this research was triangulation. Quantitative data consisted of the National Opinion Research Center of General Social Science1972-2000 (NORC-GSS) national data. Qualitative data consisted of primary focus group research. Eight hypotheses and six research questions guided this study.Three major endogenous variables (e.g. religiosity, political consciousness, and progressive political action) and two exogenous variables (e.g., age, occupation) were tested in this study. All hypotheses were measured at the .05 alpha level. The Hegelian Dialectic Method was confirmed by focus group summary analysis. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research shows that Americans have an "unusual proclivity" for joining and participating in civic groups (e.g., churches and voluntary associations), which has produced a very rich and varied civil society. Individuals who are members and/or active in voluntary organizations are more likely to be active in the political system. Some scholars suggest that racial differences in rates of participation in voluntary organizations "may lead to or reinforce social and economic disadvantages of particular groups." If it is true that differences in rates of associational involvement may contribute to socioeconomic inequality, then perhaps, boosting rates of participation in voluntary groups may help people of color build the political clout needed to influence the decisions of policy-makers, which could lead to improvements in the social and economic well-being of members of their communities. This study will show how involvement and activism in voluntary associations boosts participation by blacks in the political system, helping to close the racial gap in participation between blacks and whites. This study will show, however, that not just any type of organization will do. I use Robert Putnam's organizational typology to differentiate between associations based on their capacity to involve their members in the politics. I show that bridging groups (outward looking and encompass people across diverse social cleavages) tend to boost participation by blacks in politics while bonding organizations (inward looking and tend to reinforce exclusive identities and homogeneous groups) tend to reduce participation in politics by blacks. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the increasing Latino population in the United States, more attention is turning to the extent to which Latinos are represented in legislative institutions. This article examines the conditions under which Latinas are elected to Congress and state legislatures throughout the United States. In particular, this article finds that Latinas have benefited from elite driven methods, features of the electoral system, and the discretion to use or not use their Latino surnames dependent on electoral context. Like all other legislators, once in office, Latinas are especially concerned with representing their districts and all of their constituents, regardless of background. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immigration has become one of the most salient issues in American politics today. Illegal immigration is an issue that affects American citizens in different ways, with some communities welcoming immigrates and others not. These local effects may, in turn, affect the level of political participation in communities with certain characteristics.There is a developing literature on the effects of the number of immigrants and the change in the number of immigrants in a geographic area as a predictor of the level of support for immigration. One of the theoretical issues discussed in this literature is the "threat" hypothesis where minority groups appose immigration when their livelihood is threatened. This argument may also be used to explain the probability of individuals participation rates in political activates.In this study I will examine the relationship between immigration population and change in immigration population as a predictor of individual voter turnout. It is expected that the population and increase in immigrant population, measured at the county level, will increase the probability that individuals residing in that county will be more likely to turnout to vote.This study will use ANES data from the 2000 and 2004 election cycles in order to examine possible changes in the effect of time and salience. In this study I hope to show a causal link between the local immigration context and the most common political behavior, voting in a Presidential election. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing from media richness theory, certain forms of media, such as television, have greater informational impact on viewers and subsequent viewer cognitive information and action than other forms, such as newspapers. Through the use of the American National Election Survey Panel Study: 1990-1992, this longitudinal study examines two forms of media, newspaper and television, as well as war news to determine the influence on political opinion and voter participation. Results indicate that reading the newspaper or attention to campaign material in newspapers has no effect on subsequent political opinion, ideology, or turnout. Increased attention to television news campaign coverage yields a greater likelihood of voting as well as negative feelings about political leaders; however, too much attention to television campaigns creates media saturation level for voter participation and opinions about leaders, suggesting quality, not quantity is an important factor for political reasoning and action. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, scholars have found that women's underrepresentation in political office in the U.S. is in large part due to women's unwillingness to run for public office. I hypothesize that women's unwillingness to run is based in part on self-presentational concerns. In politics, image matters. A politician must convey competency, credibility, assertiveness, and attentiveness. The primary means by which impressions are conveyed by politicians is through the media. To the extent that women are aware of the scrutiny female politicians are subjected to by the press, they have to consider their self-presentational goals and abilities (do they feel comfortable under such scrutiny) to a greater extent than do men. I have conducted a pilot study investigating the relationship between self-presentational goals and political ambition with a survey of 268 college students (Smith 2006). The results of the pilot study are suggestive that self-presentational concerns matter for young women more than for young men in their decision to consider seeking public office. In this study, I administer a similar survey to approximately 2000 students at eight geographically-dispersed universities throughout the United States to examine how self-presentational goals and socialization interact to influence young women's political ambition. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the elimination of the regularly occurring legislative sessions that convened after the November congressional elections with the ratification of the Twentieth Amendment in 1933, Congress still occasional meets in a lame duck session. In fact, such sessions are becoming commonplace, with the convening of post-election sessions in 5 of the last 6 congresses. These sessions are comprised of a mix of members who will return to serve in the subsequent congress and of lame ducks: defeated members and retirees. As a result, lame duck sessions would seem to differ significantly from the regular sessions that met prior to the elections. Past opponents of the lame duck sessions argued departing members showed dramatic changes in their voting behavior as a result of the severed linkages with constituents. Lame ducks, it was claimed, sought to p! lacate interests other than those they represented. If that is the case, we might expect to find noticeable differences across regular and lame duck sessions in the effectiveness of party leaders to craft an agenda and to keep their fellow partisans in the fold to support that agenda. We analyze roll call behavior and party cohesion across sessions to answer two questions. First, whether departing members make notable changes in their voting behavior in their days in office. Second, we seek to determine whether the nature of party pressures and party leadership changes in lame duck sessions. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinton (2006) finds that the revealed preferences of Republican House members are related to the preferences of their Republican constituents, but that the revealed preferences of Democratic House members are most strongly related to the preferences of their constituents that do not self-identify as Democrats. We suggest that Clinton's puzzling results are largely an artifact of his model and measures. The results change significantly when we replace Clinton's measure of constituency preferences based on self-identified ideology with a measure of constituency preferences constructed from responses to a dozen policy specific questions. More importantly, we suggest that the puzzling character of Clinton's results stem from a model that is inconsistent with the theoretical literature on the competing electoral pressures faced by every MC. We offer a model which is consistent with standard accounts of multiple constituencies. The results from our model are readily interpretable in terms of cross pressures on the MC from the median member of the geographic constituency and the median partisan.Clinton, Joshua. 2006. "Constituents and Roll Calls in the 106th House," Journal of Politics, Vol. 68(2): 397-409. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brenner and Heberlig's (2002) analysis of the Supreme Court justices' opinion writing from 1946-1997 found that both structural and personal background variables explained the variation in the justices' opinion writing, both the proportion of cases in which the justices wrote opinions and in differences among writing majority, dissenting and concurring opinions. These authors examined opinion writing in the context of the literature on the general question of why and how people participate in politics (Warro 2000; Hall 1996; Schiller 1995; Verba, Scholzman, and Brady 1995; Rosenstone and Hansen 1993; and Sinclair 1989). They identify and test eight structural, personal background, and other hypotheses and find evidence to support at least five of their hypotheses across the various types of opinion writing the judges engage in. Factors that decrease the probability of the justice writing an opinion includes the being in the position of chief justice and being ideological extreme relative to the rest of the bench. Factors that increase the probability of the justice writing an opinion include the prestige of the justice's law school, the justices' childhood social status, and tenure on the bench. We propose to both replicate and expand Brenner and Heberlig's backwards in time, across the remaining period of the Court's history, 1801-1945. We believe that it is particularly important to determine whether these explanations are time-bound. Additionally, we propose to expand the models, adding additional professional variables, such as the justices' prior experience in the judiciary (both federal and state/local) and academia, and additional personal background variables that the literature suggests affects political participation. We also propose to test different structural constraints for this particular period for the court, specifically in regard to the Court's changing circuit riding obligations overtime, and the variation in circuit riding obligations among the judges in terms of geographic distance. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2004, election turnout rates in the United States and Canada started to converge, in part due to an increase in interest which led to higher turnout in the United States, and in part due to a generational-induced decline in turnout in Canada. Based on the theory that higher rates of participation are commonly associated with lower socioeconomic bias in participation (Lijphart, APSR 1997), I will use National Election Studies data from both countries to examine whether the recent changes in turnout levels have resulted in lower turnout bias in the United States and higher turnout bias in Canada (using standard SES variables). Possible partisan consequences will be discussed. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the vast majority of voting in Congress occurs during regular working hours, about three percent of the recorded votes each session over the last decade have occurred late into the evening. The purpose of this research is to examine this unique set of votes members of Congress cast while burning the midnight oil. While these late night votes represent only a small percentage of roll call votes, they are evidently important to members of Congress or at least their leaders who are extremely busy. Roll call votes scheduled late in the evening clearly interfere with members' regular schedules, and no member wants to spend their night on the hill after a long day of Washington work. Considering the disincentives for holding late night roll-call votes, why do they occur? While cynics might assume our Representatives are trying to hide votes, conducting these roll calls while most Americans are sleeping rather than attentively watching C-Span. An alternative view might suggest late night voting is simply another example of members of congress working tirelessly to serve their constituents. Specifically, we test three models of late night voting. First, the Strategic Rush Hypothesis assumes that there are a greater number of votes prior to a major recess (Yackee 2003), and we test if this holds true for late night voting as well. Second, the Cynical Model suggest party leaders schedule late night roll call votes in order to limit the influence of minority interests and conceal controversial legislation and roll-call votes from their constituents. Finally, the Overburdened Model suggests late night roll call votes are simply the result of a congressional schedule which is overburdened. Consequently, Congressional leaders are required to schedule some votes late into the evening in order to address the numerous and complex issues facing our country. In order to test which of these three hypotheses most accurately explain late night voting, we examine all roll-call votes which occurred between midnight and 7:00 AM during the 102nd - 109th Congresses. Our purpose is to determine if the issue domains are unique, whether these votes are more or less important, and whether they are more partisan than regular session votes. This should improve our understanding of this unique and important set of votes. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on political party networks, especially the national party networks in Washington to better understand today's intensely partisan environment in the U.S. The principal players in the Washington party networks include elected officials, congressional staffers, fundraisers, lobbyists, interest group representatives, political consultants, think tank researchers and some figures in the mass media.