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A Method of Estimating the Personal Ideology of Political Representatives

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  • Carson, Richard T.
  • Oppenheimer, Joe A.

Abstract

We suggest a method for estimating a political representative's personal ideology and its effect on his or her voting decisions. The current practice of using the ratings of a pressure group such as Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) as a proxy for personal ideology is shown to have a number of theoretical and interpretive flaws. Our technique uses the residuals from two regression equations to provide answers to two questions: Is there a systematic ideological component to the voting behavior of political representatives after taking account of other political determinants, and if a systematic ideological component exists, is it possible to determine its role in voting on particular issues? The technique developed and the currently accepted practice are compared using votes on labor issues as an empirical example.

Suggested Citation

  • Carson, Richard T. & Oppenheimer, Joe A., 1984. "A Method of Estimating the Personal Ideology of Political Representatives," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 78(1), pages 163-178, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:78:y:1984:i:01:p:163-178_25
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    Cited by:

    1. Potters, Jan & Sloof, Randolph, 1996. "Interest groups: A survey of empirical models that try to assess their influence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 403-442, November.
    2. B. Chupp, 2014. "Political interaction in the senate: estimating a political “spatial” weights matrix and an application to lobbying behavior," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 160(3), pages 521-538, September.
    3. Allen Wilhite & John Theilmann, 1987. "Labor PAC contributions and labor legislation: A simultaneous logit approach," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 267-276, January.

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