Title:      Estimating Proposal and Status Quo Locations Using
Voting and Cosponsorship Data

Authors:    Michael Peress

Entrydate:  2008-07-04 00:19:35

Keywords:   Ideal Point Estimation, Cosponsorship, Status Quo,
Theories of Lawmaking

Abstract:    
  Theories of lawmaking generate predictions for the policy
outcome as a function of the status quo. These theories are
difficult to test because existing ideal point estimation
techniques do not recover the locations of proposals or status
quos. Instead, such techniques only recover cutpoints. This
limitation has meant that existing tests of theories of
lawmaking have been 
indirect in nature. I propose a method of directly measuring
ideal points, proposal locations, and status quo locations on
the same multidimensional scale, by employing a combination of
voting data, bill and amendment cosponsorship data, and the
congressional record. My approach works 
as follows. First, we can identify the locations of legislative
proposals (bills and amendments) on the same scale as voter
ideal points by jointly scaling voting and cosponsorship data.
Next, we 
can identify the location of the final form of  the bill using
the location of last successful amendment (which we already
know). If the bill was not amended, then the final form is
simply 
the original bill location. Finally, we can identify the status
quo point by employing the cutpoint we get form scaling the
final passage vote. To implement this procedure, I automatically
coded data on the congressional record available from
www.thomas.gov. I apply this approach to recent sessions of the
U.S. Senate, and use it to test the implications of competing
theories of lawmaking. 

http://polmeth.wustl.edu/retrieve.php?id=776

**********************************************************
             Political Methodology E-Mail List
   Editors: Melanie Goodrich, <[log in to unmask]>
            Delia Bailey, <[log in to unmask]>
**********************************************************
        Send messages to [log in to unmask]
  To join the list, cancel your subscription, or modify
           your subscription settings visit:

          http://polmeth.wustl.edu/polmeth.php

**********************************************************