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Books by Laurel Harbridge

Is Bipartisanship Dead? looks beyond (and considers the time before) roll call voting to examine ... more Is Bipartisanship Dead? looks beyond (and considers the time before) roll call voting to examine the extent to which bipartisan agreement in the House of Representatives has declined since the 1970s. The coalitions that members build around policies early in the legislative process point to a surprising persistence of bipartisan agreement between 1973 and 2004. The declining bipartisanship over time in roll call voting reflects a shift in how party leaders structure the floor and roll call agendas. Party leaders in the House changed from prioritizing legislation with bipartisan agreement in the 1970s to prioritizing legislation with partisan disagreement by the 1990s. Laurel Harbridge argues that this shift reflects a changing political environment and an effort by leaders to balance members’ electoral interests, governance goals, and partisan differentiation. The findings speak to questions of representation and governance. They also shed light on whether partisan conflict is insurmountable, and, ultimately, whether bipartisanship in congressional politics is dead.

Papers by Laurel Harbridge

Is Bipartisanship Dead? looks beyond (and considers the time before) roll call voting to examine ... more Is Bipartisanship Dead? looks beyond (and considers the time before) roll call voting to examine the extent to which bipartisan agreement in the House of Representatives has declined since the 1970s. Despite voting coalitions showing a decline in bipartisan agreement between 1973 and 2004, member's bill cosponsorship coalitions show a more stable level of bipartisanship. The declining bipartisanship over time in roll call voting reflects a shift in how party leaders structure the floor and roll call agendas. Party leaders in the House changed from prioritizing legislation with bipartisan agreement in the 1970s to prioritizing legislation with partisan disagreement by the 1990s. Laurel Harbridge argues that this shift reflects a changing political environment and an effort by leaders to balance members' electoral interests, governance goals, and partisan differentiation. The findings speak to questions of representation and governance. They also shed light on whether partisan...

Legislative Studies Quarterly, 2016

Legislators' actions are influenced by party, constituency, and their own views, each weighted di... more Legislators' actions are influenced by party, constituency, and their own views, each weighted differently. Our survey of state legislators finds that legislator's own views are the strongest influence. We also find that institutions are an important source of party leaders' influence. Legislators in states where members rely more on party leadersstates without term limits, with less professional legislatures, and where the majority party controls the agendaput more weight on leaders' preferences. Beyond direct party influence, the views of party leaders are preemptively incorporated into legislators' preferences when the rules of the legislature make party leaders more powerful.

American Politics Research, 2014

An analysis of U.S. budgetary changes shows that, among subaccounts that are cut, Democrats make ... more An analysis of U.S. budgetary changes shows that, among subaccounts that are cut, Democrats make more large cuts when they control more lawmaking institutions. This surprising finding is consistent with legislators who are subject to motivated reasoning. In an information-rich world, they disproportionately respond to information in line with their bias unless they must make a large accuracy correction. This article tests, for the first time, motivated information processing among legislators. It finds evidence that Democrats engage in motivated information processing and that the effects of it are felt more on social spending and in off-election years.

Legislative Studies Quarterly, 2014

At a time of a high level of polarization in Congress, public opinion surveys routinely find that... more At a time of a high level of polarization in Congress, public opinion surveys routinely find that Americans want politicians to compromise. When evaluating legislation, does the preference for bipartisanship in the legislative process trump partisan identities? We find that it does not. We conduct two experiments in which we alter aspects of the political context to see how people respond to parties (not) coming together to achieve broadly popular public policy goals. Although citizens can recognize bipartisan processes, preferences for bipartisan legislating do not outweigh partisan desires in the evaluation of public policies.

American Journal of Political Science

Does partisan conflict damage citizens’ perceptions of Congress? If so, why has polarization incr... more Does partisan conflict damage citizens’ perceptions of Congress? If so, why has polarization increased in Congress since the
1970s? To address these questions, we unpack the “electoral connection” by exploring the mass public’s attitudes toward
partisan conflict via two survey experiments in which we manipulated characteristics of members and Congress. We find
that party conflict reduces confidence in Congress among citizens across the partisan spectrum. However, there exists
heterogeneity by strength of party identification with respect to evaluations of members. Independents and weak partisans
are more supportive of members who espouse a bipartisan image, whereas strong partisans are less supportive. People with
strong attachments to a political party disavow conflict in the aggregate but approve of individual members behaving in
a partisan manner. This pattern helps us understand why members in safely partisan districts engage in partisan conflict
even though partisanship damages the collective reputation of the institution.

faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu

Public Administration Review, Jan 1, 2010

U.S. federal budget dynamics, as a major attribute of the legislative and bureaucratic decision-m... more U.S. federal budget dynamics, as a major attribute of the legislative and bureaucratic decision-making processes, increasingly calls into question the scholarly focus on incrementalism. What constitutes a "small" change is largely unspecifi ed in previous research that has also been unable to assess incrementalism across multiple levels of aggregation. Using a unique budgetary database, this article analyzes whether budgetary changes are in fact "small" at diff erent levels of aggregation. Surprisingly, a low proportion of changes are small by any logical standard. During most years, more than one-fi fth of budgetary changes are greater than 50 percent, and nearly half are more than 10 percent. Th e level of aggregation is also important for assessing whether political variables infl uence incrementalism. A salient fi nding: change in party control refl ects greater infl uence within micro-level budget decisions, while divided government manifests more impact on aggregate-level budget decisions.

Red and blue nation?: …, Jan 1, 2006

5 Polarization and Public Policy: A General Assessment David W. Brady John Ferejohn Laurel Harbri... more 5 Polarization and Public Policy: A General Assessment David W. Brady John Ferejohn Laurel Harbridge In the first volume generated by the Brookings–Hoover study on polarization in American politics, William Galston and Pietro Nivola correctly state that polarization is a serious ...

Conference Presentations by Laurel Harbridge

There is a widespread belief, rooted in gender stereotypes, that women are more willing to compro... more There is a widespread belief, rooted in gender stereotypes, that women are more willing to compromise than men. Moreover, in 2012, a record number of female legislators were elected to Congress, leading news outlets to suggest that more women will mean more compromise and bipartisanship in the legislature. We experimentally investigate whether female legislators have greater electoral incentives to compromise on legislation, jointly considering the roles of partisanship and gender in how voters evaluate compromising and non-compromising lawmakers. Our findings suggest that whether female members are differentially rewarded or punished for not compromising is highly conditional and depends on the whether the member and voter are of the same political party and the type of evaluation being made. As increasing numbers of women continue to be elected to Congress, our work has critical implications for understanding the institutional and electoral challenges faced by female lawmakers.

presentation at the Midwest Political Science …, Jan 1, 2008

Western Political Science Association 2010 Annual …, Jan 1, 2010

Page 1. The Elasticity of Partisanship in Congress: An Analysis of Legislative BipartisanshipLaur... more Page 1. The Elasticity of Partisanship in Congress: An Analysis of Legislative BipartisanshipLaurel Harbridge College Fellow, Department of Political Science Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research Northwestern University l-harbridge@northwestern.edu ...

Drafts by Laurel Harbridge

faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu

Evidence shows that polarization in Congress has increased substantially since the 1970s while po... more Evidence shows that polarization in Congress has increased substantially since the 1970s while polarization in the public has increased much less, if at all. These two patterns of polarization suggest that responsiveness by members to their constituents has declined. By breaking apart congressional behavior, however, this paper suggests that this presumption is misleading. Looking at roll call votes and bill cosponsorship coalitions, this paper suggests that although partisan behavior has increased substantially in roll call votes, the same is not true for bill cosponsorship coalitions. In turn, this suggests that while responsiveness has declined when considering roll call voting, responsiveness has increased when considering cosponsorship coalitions. These divergent patterns can be reconciled by taking into consideration congressional agenda control.

Is Bipartisanship Dead? looks beyond (and considers the time before) roll call voting to examine ... more Is Bipartisanship Dead? looks beyond (and considers the time before) roll call voting to examine the extent to which bipartisan agreement in the House of Representatives has declined since the 1970s. The coalitions that members build around policies early in the legislative process point to a surprising persistence of bipartisan agreement between 1973 and 2004. The declining bipartisanship over time in roll call voting reflects a shift in how party leaders structure the floor and roll call agendas. Party leaders in the House changed from prioritizing legislation with bipartisan agreement in the 1970s to prioritizing legislation with partisan disagreement by the 1990s. Laurel Harbridge argues that this shift reflects a changing political environment and an effort by leaders to balance members’ electoral interests, governance goals, and partisan differentiation. The findings speak to questions of representation and governance. They also shed light on whether partisan conflict is insurmountable, and, ultimately, whether bipartisanship in congressional politics is dead.

Is Bipartisanship Dead? looks beyond (and considers the time before) roll call voting to examine ... more Is Bipartisanship Dead? looks beyond (and considers the time before) roll call voting to examine the extent to which bipartisan agreement in the House of Representatives has declined since the 1970s. Despite voting coalitions showing a decline in bipartisan agreement between 1973 and 2004, member's bill cosponsorship coalitions show a more stable level of bipartisanship. The declining bipartisanship over time in roll call voting reflects a shift in how party leaders structure the floor and roll call agendas. Party leaders in the House changed from prioritizing legislation with bipartisan agreement in the 1970s to prioritizing legislation with partisan disagreement by the 1990s. Laurel Harbridge argues that this shift reflects a changing political environment and an effort by leaders to balance members' electoral interests, governance goals, and partisan differentiation. The findings speak to questions of representation and governance. They also shed light on whether partisan...

Legislative Studies Quarterly, 2016

Legislators' actions are influenced by party, constituency, and their own views, each weighted di... more Legislators' actions are influenced by party, constituency, and their own views, each weighted differently. Our survey of state legislators finds that legislator's own views are the strongest influence. We also find that institutions are an important source of party leaders' influence. Legislators in states where members rely more on party leadersstates without term limits, with less professional legislatures, and where the majority party controls the agendaput more weight on leaders' preferences. Beyond direct party influence, the views of party leaders are preemptively incorporated into legislators' preferences when the rules of the legislature make party leaders more powerful.

American Politics Research, 2014

An analysis of U.S. budgetary changes shows that, among subaccounts that are cut, Democrats make ... more An analysis of U.S. budgetary changes shows that, among subaccounts that are cut, Democrats make more large cuts when they control more lawmaking institutions. This surprising finding is consistent with legislators who are subject to motivated reasoning. In an information-rich world, they disproportionately respond to information in line with their bias unless they must make a large accuracy correction. This article tests, for the first time, motivated information processing among legislators. It finds evidence that Democrats engage in motivated information processing and that the effects of it are felt more on social spending and in off-election years.

Legislative Studies Quarterly, 2014

At a time of a high level of polarization in Congress, public opinion surveys routinely find that... more At a time of a high level of polarization in Congress, public opinion surveys routinely find that Americans want politicians to compromise. When evaluating legislation, does the preference for bipartisanship in the legislative process trump partisan identities? We find that it does not. We conduct two experiments in which we alter aspects of the political context to see how people respond to parties (not) coming together to achieve broadly popular public policy goals. Although citizens can recognize bipartisan processes, preferences for bipartisan legislating do not outweigh partisan desires in the evaluation of public policies.

American Journal of Political Science

Does partisan conflict damage citizens’ perceptions of Congress? If so, why has polarization incr... more Does partisan conflict damage citizens’ perceptions of Congress? If so, why has polarization increased in Congress since the
1970s? To address these questions, we unpack the “electoral connection” by exploring the mass public’s attitudes toward
partisan conflict via two survey experiments in which we manipulated characteristics of members and Congress. We find
that party conflict reduces confidence in Congress among citizens across the partisan spectrum. However, there exists
heterogeneity by strength of party identification with respect to evaluations of members. Independents and weak partisans
are more supportive of members who espouse a bipartisan image, whereas strong partisans are less supportive. People with
strong attachments to a political party disavow conflict in the aggregate but approve of individual members behaving in
a partisan manner. This pattern helps us understand why members in safely partisan districts engage in partisan conflict
even though partisanship damages the collective reputation of the institution.

faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu

Public Administration Review, Jan 1, 2010

U.S. federal budget dynamics, as a major attribute of the legislative and bureaucratic decision-m... more U.S. federal budget dynamics, as a major attribute of the legislative and bureaucratic decision-making processes, increasingly calls into question the scholarly focus on incrementalism. What constitutes a "small" change is largely unspecifi ed in previous research that has also been unable to assess incrementalism across multiple levels of aggregation. Using a unique budgetary database, this article analyzes whether budgetary changes are in fact "small" at diff erent levels of aggregation. Surprisingly, a low proportion of changes are small by any logical standard. During most years, more than one-fi fth of budgetary changes are greater than 50 percent, and nearly half are more than 10 percent. Th e level of aggregation is also important for assessing whether political variables infl uence incrementalism. A salient fi nding: change in party control refl ects greater infl uence within micro-level budget decisions, while divided government manifests more impact on aggregate-level budget decisions.

Red and blue nation?: …, Jan 1, 2006

5 Polarization and Public Policy: A General Assessment David W. Brady John Ferejohn Laurel Harbri... more 5 Polarization and Public Policy: A General Assessment David W. Brady John Ferejohn Laurel Harbridge In the first volume generated by the Brookings–Hoover study on polarization in American politics, William Galston and Pietro Nivola correctly state that polarization is a serious ...

There is a widespread belief, rooted in gender stereotypes, that women are more willing to compro... more There is a widespread belief, rooted in gender stereotypes, that women are more willing to compromise than men. Moreover, in 2012, a record number of female legislators were elected to Congress, leading news outlets to suggest that more women will mean more compromise and bipartisanship in the legislature. We experimentally investigate whether female legislators have greater electoral incentives to compromise on legislation, jointly considering the roles of partisanship and gender in how voters evaluate compromising and non-compromising lawmakers. Our findings suggest that whether female members are differentially rewarded or punished for not compromising is highly conditional and depends on the whether the member and voter are of the same political party and the type of evaluation being made. As increasing numbers of women continue to be elected to Congress, our work has critical implications for understanding the institutional and electoral challenges faced by female lawmakers.

presentation at the Midwest Political Science …, Jan 1, 2008

Western Political Science Association 2010 Annual …, Jan 1, 2010

Page 1. The Elasticity of Partisanship in Congress: An Analysis of Legislative BipartisanshipLaur... more Page 1. The Elasticity of Partisanship in Congress: An Analysis of Legislative BipartisanshipLaurel Harbridge College Fellow, Department of Political Science Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research Northwestern University l-harbridge@northwestern.edu ...

faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu

Evidence shows that polarization in Congress has increased substantially since the 1970s while po... more Evidence shows that polarization in Congress has increased substantially since the 1970s while polarization in the public has increased much less, if at all. These two patterns of polarization suggest that responsiveness by members to their constituents has declined. By breaking apart congressional behavior, however, this paper suggests that this presumption is misleading. Looking at roll call votes and bill cosponsorship coalitions, this paper suggests that although partisan behavior has increased substantially in roll call votes, the same is not true for bill cosponsorship coalitions. In turn, this suggests that while responsiveness has declined when considering roll call voting, responsiveness has increased when considering cosponsorship coalitions. These divergent patterns can be reconciled by taking into consideration congressional agenda control.