Rachel Porter

BJPolS abstract discussing the behavior of American state legislators and their impact on democratic processes, specifically in relation to actions taken around the 2020 presidential election.

NEW -

The Consequences of Elite Action Against Elections - https://cup.org/3K5I3Aa

- @rachelporter.bsky.social, Jeffrey J. Harden, Emily Anderson, Géssica de Freitas, Mackenzie R. Dobson, @ahemmen.bsky.social & Emma Schroeder

#OpenAccess

Congratulations to the RPL Lab on their BJPS publication, supported by the Rooney Institute! The study examines how state legislators were held accountable for actions challenging the 2020 election, finding only Jan. 6 participation led to consequences. doi.org/10.1017/S000...

Representation and Politics in Legislatures (RPL) Lab Notre Dame’s Rooney Center facilitates research on critical issues facing American democracy and encourages student engagement in civic and political life.

This was a collaboration with Notre Dame graduate students in our Representation and Politics in Legislatures (RPL) Lab --- more fantastic work to come!

(rooneyinstitute.nd.edu/research/res...)

"The Consequences of Elite Action Against Elections" is now in print at BJPS (@bjpols.bsky.social)

doi.org/10.1017/S000....

Amateur hour in Congress: How political newcomers fuel gridlock and government shutdowns The public’s frustration with ‘politics as usual’ has led more political newcomers to win office. But amateurs are more likely to view bipartisanship as a concession, not a tool for advancing policy.

Political inexperience in Congress has measurable effects on legislative outcomes. Our research finds that when districts elect political newcomers over career politicians, congressional dysfunction tends to increase.

New explainer of our PNAS study:
theconversation.com/amateur-hour...

Amateur hour in Congress: How political newcomers fuel gridlock and government shutdowns The public’s frustration with ‘politics as usual’ has led more political newcomers to win office. But amateurs are more likely to view bipartisanship as a concession, not a tool for advancing policy.

Amateur hour in Congress: How political newcomers fuel gridlock and government shutdowns buff.ly/p9jff1L

Totally fair point. I do want to point out, though, that bipartisan lawmaking is the opposite of status quo governance, because it actually produces results

Full research paper here 🔗: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Amateur politicians contribute to legislative dysfunction. Great post and research from my colleague @rachelporter.bsky.social!

Amateur hour in Congress: How political newcomers fuel gridlock and government shutdowns The public’s frustration with ‘politics as usual’ has led more political newcomers to win office. But amateurs are more likely to view bipartisanship as a concession, not a tool for advancing policy.

Political inexperience in Congress has measurable effects on legislative outcomes. Our research finds that when districts elect political newcomers over career politicians, congressional dysfunction tends to increase.

New explainer of our PNAS study:
theconversation.com/amateur-hour...

Calm before the storm! Today is the day: the inaugural IU Center on American Politics Conference.

Speakers: Mike Wagner, Marc Hetherington, Josh McCrain, myself, Julia Azari, Rachel Lienesch, Rachel Porter, Sean Westwood.

Follow this thread for key points from talks.

🧵

Applications are due soon for our postdoctoral / visiting student position in representation and legislative studies!

We will begin reviewing files next week! Please apply (or encourage your students to apply)

apply.interfolio.com/175219

Since 2018, Republican candidates have completely erased a massive Democratic edge in emphasizing education issues.

I agree with this --- CampaignView (campaignview.org) data for 2024 should be released in the next few weeks, but across select issues, we find modest movement left by House Dem candidates (at the issue level) in recent years. Both parties moved to the extreme on energy issues (1/2 sd).

I haven't spent a ton of time working through this, but it draws heavily on national party insights to make recommendations for Dem candidates... who are already doing these things?

Over three-quarters of Ds discuss economics, healthcare etc....

campaignview.org
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Important thread on the "aren't Dems already doing the things you're telling them to do" angle

My read was that they are making points about failure of reach, but also campaign content wrt issue prioritization and issue positioning---my point here speaks to the campaign content bit

This was also my read---and while aggregate measures of ideology may show lefward movement there is still important issue specific moderation that appears on the surface to reflect district issue-specific preferences

Dems also outpace Reps in adopting bipartisan appeals across nearly every issue category...with the main difference being Reps tend to adopt bipartisan appeals more than Dems on a single non-"owned" issue (social welfare)....

Candidates also tend to adopt similar issue-specific stances as their district...? And are especially likely to engage in issue-specific moderation in competitive electoral contexts

osf.io/preprints/os...

I haven't spent a ton of time working through this, but it draws heavily on national party insights to make recommendations for Dem candidates... who are already doing these things?

Over three-quarters of Ds discuss economics, healthcare etc....

campaignview.org
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The New York Times’ “Moderation Advantage” Is a Statistical Illusion After accounting for money and incumbency the supposed electoral bonus for moderate candidates vanishes entirely.

Look. It would be great if there was one simple trick for winning elections. But 'just be more moderate' isn't it.

In fact, you can use the NYT's exact method to 'prove' a 'Progressive Advantage' of +1.4 pts.

This piece shows what's really going on: funded candidates do better than unfunded ones.

Thank you!! Really happy with how it came out (but sad for governance)

Every cycle, we relearn the same lesson: candidates without governing experience can become liabilities fast

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Electing amateur politicians reduces cross-party collaboration | PNAS Public trust in democratic institutions has dropped to historic lows, prompting electorates in major democracies to turn to “amateur” politicians w...

Congratulations to Rachel Porter, Jeff Harden, and Mackenzie Dobson on their new publication in PNAS! Their article, "Electing amateur politicians reduces cross-party collaboration," stems from research conducted in the Representation and Politics in Legislatures Lab. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Currently in FirstView: In “Balancing Precision and Retention in Experimental Design,” @gustavodiaz.org and Erin Rossiter study how experimental design choices can increase precision when estimating treatment effects. Specifically, they examine block-randomized and pre-post designs.

It should now be up and online!

Data should be online at Harvard Dataverse. It was made “live” this morning—if you continue to have access issues let me know.

Another data update for 1980-2024 will be released shortly!

Thank you @jandrewsinclair.bsky.social! Really proud of the final product!

👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽