Elections and the Responsiveness of Incumbents: A Reaction to Lockerbie

Authors

  • Robert A. Bernstein

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2374-7781.1992.13.0.355-359

Abstract

Brad Lockerbie’s test of the “marginality hypothesis” provides additional evidence for a thesis I have propounded for many years: we cannot rely on elections to force incumbents to be more responsive to the policy preferences of their constituencies (Bernstein 1989, 1991a, 1991b, 1992).

References

Bellmon, Senator Henry. 1992. Why I Voted for the Panama Treaties. Extensions: A Journal of the Carl Albert Center (Summer): 3-6.

Bernstein, Robert A. 1989. Elections, Representation, and Congressional Voting Behavior: The Myth of Constituency Control. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice- Hall.

________ . 1991a. Strategic Shifts: Safeguarding the Public Interest? U.S. Senators, 1971- 86. Legislative Studies Quarterly 16: 263-281.

________ . 1991b. Ideological Deviation and Support for Reelection: Party Differences in Senate Races. Western Political Quarterly 44: 987-1003.

________ . 1992. Limited Ideological Accountability in House Races: The Conditioning Effect of Party. American Politics Quarterly 20: 192-204.

Kingdon, John W. 1981. Congressmen s Voting Decisions, 2nd edition. NY: Harper & Row.

McCormick, James M. and Michael Black. 1983. Ideology and Voting on the Panama Canal Treaties. Legislative Studies Quarterly 8: 45-63.

Overby, L. Marvin. 1991. Assessing Constituency Influence: Congressional Voting on the Nuclear Freeze, 1982-83. Legislative Studies Quarterly 16: 297-312.

Payne, James L. 1991a. The Culture of Spending: Why Congress Lives Beyond our Means. San Francisco: ICS Press.

________. 1991b. Why Government Grows. Western Political Quarterly 44:487-508.

Stone, Walter J. 1980. The Dynamics of Constituency: Electoral Control in the House. American Politics Quarterly 8: 399-424.

Thomas, Martin. 1985. Election Proximity and Senatorial Roll Call Voting. American Journal of Political Science 29: 96-111.

Weissberg, Robert. 1981. Have House Elections Become a Meaningless Ritual? In Norman Luttbeg, ed., Public Opinion and Public Policy: Models of Political Linkage, 3rd ed. Itasca, IL: Peacock.

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Published

1992-11-01

Issue

Vol. 13: Autumn 1992

Section

Articles

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