Premium
Congressional Memberships as Political Advertising: Evidence from the U.S. Senate
Author(s) -
Mixon Franklin G.,
Ressler Rand W.,
Gibson M. Troy
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
southern economic journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.762
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 2325-8012
pISSN - 0038-4038
DOI - 10.1002/j.2325-8012.2003.tb00579.x
Subject(s) - loyalty , legislature , politics , political science , perspective (graphical) , point (geometry) , political economy , public relations , public administration , economics , law , geometry , mathematics , artificial intelligence , computer science
The present article analyzes signaling by elected officials of moderate or centrist legislative behavior from a benefits/costs perspective. To do so, we provide statistical evidence regarding the tendency of senators to join the U.S. Senate Centrist Coalition, a congressional membership organization of moderate legislators. We find that changes in party loyalty, perhaps due to changes in constituent preferences, and U.S. Senate tenure are both important determinants of membership in the Centrist Coalition. Tests also point out that freshman senators are more likely than more senior senators to seek membership as a form of information provision.