Gary W. Copeland

When Congress and the President Collide: Why Presidents Veto Legislation

This study considers the major explanations for the use of the veto by utilizing multivariate time-series analysis. It concludes that many explanations found in the conventional wisdom are overrated or inaccurate. But it also shows that a few variables can explain one-half to two-thirds of the variation in the use of the veto from year-to-year. Among the most influential determinants of the use of the veto are the scope of government, opposition control of Congress, and whether the president has had a veto overridden. Among the most overrated explanations are that international crises limit the use of the veto, and that Democrats use the veto more than Republicans.

Pass the Biscuits, Pappy: Congressional Decision-Making and Federal Grants

This article examines the congressional allocation of federal grant funds. Reflecting the decision processes and norms of Congress, federal grant funds are allocated almost completely on the basis of population (or equal share). None of the other factors used to allocate specific federal funds (e.g., income, poverty, unemployment) have a great deal of impact. As a result, most congressional battles are at the margin with only marginal impact on the overall distribution.

Activating voters in congressional elections

This paper shows that one of the consequences of electoral campaigns is activation. Much research in the last decade has shown that campaign spending is related to electoral outcomes, but nearly all of this research has been conducted on district-level data, so we do not know how campaigns influence individual voters. This research returns to the theoretical framework offered inThe Peoples Choice and shows that at least part of the effect of campaigns is due to the increased likelihood of people voting when campaigns are more intense.

GAINING GROUND The Impact of Medicaid and WIC on Infant Mortality

This research provides a statistical estimation of the impact of the Medicaid and WIC programs on the infant mortality rate in the United States. These programs are designed to improve the health of poor people by increasing access to traditional medical care and by improving the nutritional values of diets. Using a quasi-experimental, time-series analysis, program impacts are estimated for all infants, white infants, and nonwhite infants. The results suggest that these federal programs are responsible for a 20,000 to 35,000 annual reduction in infant deaths.

Seniority and Committee Transfers: Career Planning in the Contemporary House of Representatives

This paper considers whether changes in the seniority rule in the House of Representatives have influenced transfers between committees because of changes in the reward structure. The thrust of the changes in seniority is that members are no longer guaranteed the chairmanship of a committee (or subcommittee) simply because they have the longest tenure. Likewise, junior members have been able to accrue substantial power and even chairmanships. The changes in the seniority rule, then, should have produced an increased willingness to transfer to an attractive committee because the transferee would be giving up less and have the potential to gain influence and position on the new committee fairly quickly. But other changes in the House (i.e., general decentralization of power) also have had a substantial effect on career decisions. An understanding of how the seniority rule influenced career planning can come only through consideration of other changes in the House. When the entire set of factors is considered, we see a pattern remarkably similar to that of earlier time periods.

Multi-level Political Careers in the USA: The Cases of African Americans and Women

This article explores what forces shape the careers of women and African American legislators, focusing on two key stages in the process: the election to state legislatures and the election to the US House of Representatives. We further consider the impact of that process on the maintenance of the political class in the US. Our findings suggest that African American members get elected when there are enough African American voters to elect them. State houses provide a nice starting point because the districts tend to be small allowing for a number of majority minority districts. But, at each successive step, i.e., the state senate and the US House, other factors enter the process. As districts get larger and the stakes get higher, it seems that success also becomes dependent on the number of African American politicians primed to move up by having experience serving in the preceding body. The pattern for women is less predictable with cultural variables and opportunity structure playing a role. The supply of candidates is the one variable common to women and African Americans. We conclude that the process is in many ways similar to that for white males and facilitates the stability of the political class.

USA: Eine politische Klasse von Entrepreneuren

In der Fruhphase der amerikanischen Republik trugen vor allem zwei Faktoren dazu bei, eine Professionalisierung des Kongresses und der Politik allgemein zu verhindern.1 Zum einen last sich seit dem Bestehen der USA eine Ambivalenz gegenuber einer Professionalisierung von Politik und offentlichem Leben feststellen. Die Fuhrer der Amerikanischen Revolution und die Autoren der Verfassung hatten ein tiefsitzendes Mistrauen gegenuber einer von anderen gesellschaftlichen Bereichen isolierten politischen Sphare. Daher verfugten die Articles of Confederation, das niemand innerhalb einer Periode von sechs Jahren langer als drei Jahre Abgeordneter des Kontinentalkongresses sein durfte. Auch George Washingtons Verzicht auf eine Wiederwahl nach zwei Amtszeiten trug dazu bei, das Ideal einer Amterrotation zu festigen.

How exceptional are Islamists? Comparing support for Hezbollah and the Lebanese Forces

Islamist movements have advanced in various contemporary forms for several decades, but there is little scholarly consensus in explaining the phenomenal rise of these movements. At least four principal competing scholarly schools of thought provide theoretical interpretations: post-nationalism (globalism and weakened nation-states), comparative institutionalism, neo-Marxism (or classbased explanations) and Islamic exceptionalism in multiple forms. Postnationalist views assert that spreading globalization and the weakening of the nation-state in recent decades have undermined nationalism. The combination of these factors provides the impetus for communal groups, such as Islamists, to fall back on primordial political identifications (ethnic, religious, sectarian, racial, tribal, etc.) and, at the same time, to transcend a country’s borders. The comparative institutionalist argument grounds the growth of Islamist movements in contemporary conditions (often tied to globalization) that place unaccommodating political institutions in the path of ethnic and religious aspirations. In contrast, class analysis uses social and economic concepts to explain Islamic populism in terms of class mobilization and social conflict.

Reapportionment and partisan competition: When does reapportionment matter?

This research considers the effects of reapportionment on partisan competition. More precisely, this study develops a set of specifications under which we might expect varying effects of reapportionment on electoral patterns. By considering the history of political competition in the state, the geographic distribution of partisans, the history and methods of previous apportionments, and the political nature of the reapportionment, a set of specific hypotheses regarding the effects can be deduced. The theory is tested by application of it to the state of Oklahoma. Utilizing an interrupted time-series analysis of election results, we conclude that the 1964 reapportionment in Oklahoma had immediate electoral consequences. The 1971 reapportionment had virtually no effect. These findings are consistent with the expectations based on the theory developed in the paper.