Christopher Dennis

Income Distribution in the United States

Political action has affected postwar income distribution in the United States mainly through policy-induced variations in macroeconomic activity and government transfer benefits in proportion to total income. We present a small dynamic model of the connections among the partisan balance of power, macroeconomic fluctuations, transfer spending trends, and income distribution outcomes. The model is based on the premise that the parties have different distributional goals, and it is designed to identify how shifts in party control of the presidency and the strength of the parties in Congress have affected the distribution of after-tax, after-transfer income by influencing cyclical economic performance and the flow of resources to transfer programs. We therefore extend the “partisan theory†of macroeconomic policy to the domain of income distribution outcomes.

Bimodal issues, the median voter model, Legislator's ideology, and abortion

The median voter model is widely used in the public choice literature to explain legislators behavior. According to the model, if voter preferences are unimodal, a vote-maximizing legislator should mirror the position of the median voter. However, the median voter model has not been tested on bimodal issues. This paper fills this critical void by empirically testing the applicability of the median voter model on an issue which clearly meets the criteria for being bimodal: abortion. Using a variety of attitudinal measures from large sample public opinion polls and constituency demographics, this study finds that Senate voting on the 1994 Freedom of Abortion Access bill was highly related to the senators personal characteristics—especially ideology—and not to constituent opinion or demographics.

Constituent diversity and congress: the case of NAFTA

Abstract An important finding of legislative research is that constituency variables are more important predictors of a legislator’s vote when constituent preferences are homogeneous, as opposed to when the various elements of the legislator’s constituency are pulling the legislator in opposing directions (Goff & Grier, Public Choice, 76, 5–20; Bailey & Brady, American Journal of Political Science, 42, 524–544). We examine these expectations on a highly salient vote, the 1993 senate vote on the North American Free Trade Agreement. While we find support for the view that constituency variables are more important in homogeneous than heterogeneous constituencies, we also find that by confining constituency variables to economic factors scholars overlook the importance of constituent ideology on legislator behavior in homogeneous constituencies.

The Impact of Party Control on the Diffusion of Parental Involvement Laws in the U.S. States

The authors examine the impact of political party control of government on the restrictiveness of a U.S. state’s abortion policy, measured by the enactment of a parental involvement law. The empirical results show that (1) institutional control of a state’s legislative and executive branches of government by the Republican Party increases the likelihood a state will enact a parental involvement law, while Democratic Party control decreases this likelihood; (2) the more conservative state public opinion is on abortion rights, the more likely a state is to enact a parental involvement law; (3) public anti-abortion attitudes do not act as a moderating force on the link between political party control and the enactment of a parental involvement law; and (4) the impact of political party control on the enactment of a parental involvement law has grown larger over time.

The impact of legislator and constituency ideology on voting on the assault weapons ban

Abstract Using variables that represent a legislators entire legal constituency, previous research by social scientists has concluded that views of the legislators constituency have little effect on how legislators vote. This question is reexamined by defining constituency as those voters most likely to vote for the legislator (i.e., members of the legislators own political party and independents). Furthermore, instead of measuring constituency by either a demographic or vote-based measure, a survey measure of the ideological identification of voters (i.e., the voters self-identification as liberal, moderate, or conservative) is introduced. It is found that the ideology of a senators electoral constituency was an important factor on the recent U.S. Senate vote to ban 19 semi-automatic assault weapons. The findings have important implications for how social scientists conceptualize and measure constituency.

The impact of tax rates, political partisanship and economic variables on the distribution of state and local tax burdens

Abstract This study finds that the effective state and local tax rate for the top 1% of income households as a percentage of the effective state and local tax rate for the bottom 20% of income households in 2002 is significantly influenced by whether a state has a multi-rate income tax, right-to-work laws, the liberalism of a states electorate, the average tax burden in a state and past tax policy. Democratic Party strength in state government, Republican or Democratic Party institutional control of state government, change in real per capita income, a Democratic Governor and the change in the share of income going to the top 1% of income households are not significant predictors. The empirical results are identical for the top 2–5% of income households to the bottom 20% of income households.

The impact of political parties on the distribution of state and local tax burdens

Abstract Using a disaggregated measure that allows us to examine the distribution of state and local tax burdens between high and low income groups better, this research finds that in many models, Democratic control is positively associated with a lower relative tax burden on the poor. The results are stronger for average Democratic strength in the state government than for unified Democratic strength. The results are strongest when comparing income groups just below the richest 1% (the next richest 2–5% and the next richest 6–20%) with the poorest 20%. Income inequality is strongly negatively associated with the degree of state and local tax progressivity.

Support for campaign spending limitations in the U. S. senate: The role of party, ideology and electoral security

Abstract Recent media disclosures of American campaign funding raising practices in the 1996 election have renewed political interest in campaign finance reform. This paper examines senatorial support for the McCain/Feingold measure that would have established voluntary spending limits on senate candidates and banned unlimited campaign contributions through political party organizations. While party affiliation and senator ideology are very important in explaining support for the McCain/Feingold measure, various measures of electoral security are not significant. This is important because the public choice literature emphasizes that electoral security is the primary goal of legislators. Additionally, the electoral self-interest of legislators is probably much more accurately measured by the various electoral security measures used in this study than by the constituency measures typically employed in the public choice literature. Nevertheless, personal legislator electoral security is not a powerful explanatory factor.

The impact of racially disproportionate outcomes on public policy: The U.S. Senate and the death penalty

Abstract The implementation of particular public policies may infringe upon important civil rights of citizens. This article explores the relationship between the racially disproportionate effects of the death penalty and a subsequent attempt in the U.S. Senate to provide racial justice protection. While the most important explanatory factors of a senators behavior are their political philosophy and the state homicide rate the findings also indicate that racially disproportionate outcomes under capital punishment in the senators state are negatively associated with the probability that the senator will support racial justice protection. We discuss the importance of these findings.

State Adoption of Tax Policy New Data and New Insights

This article examines the factors that influence two important areas of state tax policy—the adoption of an income tax as well as whether a state permits deducting federal income taxes against state individual income taxes. We focus on a factor that has largely been unexplored, the flow of income going to the Top 1% of earners. Using data from two different time periods (1916-1937 and 1960-2003), we find that the share of income received by the richest 1% of taxpayers corresponds with both the likelihood states will adopt an income tax as well as whether states allow deductions of federal income tax against state individual income taxes.