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Community structure in Congressional cosponsorship networks

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Yan
  • Friend, A.J.
  • Traud, Amanda L.
  • Porter, Mason A.
  • Fowler, James H.
  • Mucha, Peter J.

Abstract

We study the United States Congress by constructing networks between Members of Congress based on the legislation that they cosponsor. Using the concept of modularity, we identify the community structure of Congressmen, who are connected via sponsorship/cosponsorship of the same legislation. This analysis yields an explicit and conceptually clear measure of political polarization, demonstrating a sharp increase in partisan polarization which preceded and then culminated in the 104th Congress (1995–1996), when Republicans took control of both chambers of Congress. Although polarization has since waned in the U.S. Senate, it remains at historically high levels in the House of Representatives.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Yan & Friend, A.J. & Traud, Amanda L. & Porter, Mason A. & Fowler, James H. & Mucha, Peter J., 2008. "Community structure in Congressional cosponsorship networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 387(7), pages 1705-1712.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:387:y:2008:i:7:p:1705-1712
    DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2007.11.004
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ho Yoon & Han Park, 2014. "Strategies affecting Twitter-based networking pattern of South Korean politicians: social network analysis and exponential random graph model," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 409-423, January.
    2. Carlo Dal Maso & Gabriele Pompa & Michelangelo Puliga & Gianni Riotta & Alessandro Chessa, 2014. "Voting Behavior, Coalitions and Government Strength through a Complex Network Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(12), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Natasha Kossovsky & Kathleen M. Carley, 2020. "The collapse of the second Yatsenyuk government: roll call vote and dynamic network analysis," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 123-143, March.
    4. Darko Cherepnalkoski & Andreas Karpf & Igor Mozetič & Miha Grčar, 2016. "Cohesion and Coalition Formation in the European Parliament: Roll-Call Votes and Twitter Activities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(11), pages 1-27, November.
    5. Bruce A Desmarais & Skyler J Cranmer, 2012. "Statistical Inference for Valued-Edge Networks: The Generalized Exponential Random Graph Model," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(1), pages 1-12, January.
    6. Huo, Hai-Feng & Xue, Hui-Ning & Xiang, Hong, 2018. "Dynamics of an alcoholism model on complex networks with community structure and voluntary drinking," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 505(C), pages 880-890.
    7. Desmarais, B.A. & Cranmer, S.J., 2012. "Statistical mechanics of networks: Estimation and uncertainty," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 391(4), pages 1865-1876.
    8. Kyungjin Yoo & Seth Blumsack, 2018. "The Political Complexity of Regional Electricity Policy Formation," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2018, pages 1-18, December.
    9. Puccio, Elena & Pajala, Antti & Piilo, Jyrki & Tumminello, Michele, 2016. "Structure and evolution of a European Parliament via a network and correlation analysis," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 462(C), pages 167-185.
    10. Baek, Seung Ki & Kim, Jonghoon & Lee, Song Sub & Jo, Woo Seong & Kim, Beom Jun, 2020. "Co-sponsorship analysis of party politics in the 20th National Assembly of Republic of Korea," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 560(C).
    11. Neal, Zachary & Domagalski, Rachel & Yan, Xiaoqin, 2020. "Party Control as a Context for Homophily in Collaborations among US House Representatives, 1981 -- 2015," OSF Preprints qwdxs, Center for Open Science.
    12. Jäckle Sebastian & Metz Thomas, 2019. "Oral Questions in the European Parliament: A Network Analysis," Statistics, Politics and Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(2), pages 87-113, December.
    13. David Laband & Richard Seals & Eric Wilbrandt, 2015. "On the importance of inequality in politics: duplicate bills and bill co-sponsorship in the US House of Representatives," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 353-378, November.
    14. Byung‐Jae Lee & Tae Wan Kim & Jaekwon Suh & O. Fiona Yap, 2021. "Local government performance and democratic consolidation: Explaining ordinance proposal in Busan Metropolitan Council," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(1), pages 15-41, January.
    15. Pablo Henr'iquez & Jorge Sabat & Jos'e Patr`icio Sullivan, 2021. "Politicians' Willingness to Agree: Evidence from the interactions in Twitter of Chilean Deputies," Papers 2106.09163, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2021.
    16. Traud, Amanda L. & Mucha, Peter J. & Porter, Mason A., 2012. "Social structure of Facebook networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 391(16), pages 4165-4180.
    17. Clio Andris & David Lee & Marcus J Hamilton & Mauro Martino & Christian E Gunning & John Armistead Selden, 2015. "The Rise of Partisanship and Super-Cooperators in the U.S. House of Representatives," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-14, April.

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