I Get By with a Little Help from My Friends: Leveraging Campaign Resources to Maximize Congressional Power

Central to the study of Congress is the study of relationships among members. Electoral collaboration is a function of a member's position in the broader congressional power network. It allows members to leverage their campaign resource to achieve the four classic goals of members of Congress:...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of political science 2020-10, Vol.64 (4), p.1017-1033
Main Authors: Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M., Campbell, Benjamin W., Podob, Andrew W., Walker, Seth J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Campaigns
Collaboration
Friendship
Legislators
Legislatures
Leverage
Political leadership
Power structure
Public policy
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Summary:Central to the study of Congress is the study of relationships among members. Electoral collaboration is a function of a member's position in the broader congressional power network. It allows members to leverage their campaign resource to achieve the four classic goals of members of Congress: reelection, making good public policy, obtaining power within the institution, and having one's party in the majority. Using nearly 3.2 million FEC records from 2010 to 2016, we explore the dynamics that influence electoral collaboration. We find members are most likely to collaborate electorally with other members from the same state, party, and committee, and the most electorally vulnerable. Further, party leaders share most frequently with the rank and file. These findings build upon our expanding understanding of congressional collaboration, the networks members of Congress form, and the congressional power structure members operate within.
ISSN:0092-5853
1540-5907
DOI:10.1111/ajps.12528