Legislative Success in a Small World: Social Network Analysis and the Dynamics of Congressional Legislation
19 Pages Posted: 18 Aug 2007
Date Written: January 1, 2007
Abstract
We examine the social network structure of Congress from 1973-2004. We treat two Members of Congress as directly linked if they have cosponsored a bill together. We then construct explicit networks for each year using data from all forms of legislation, including resolutions, public and private bills, and amendments. We show that Congress exemplifies the characteristics of a "small world" network and that the varying small world properties during this time period are strongly related to the number of important bills passed.
Keywords: Social Networks, Congress
JEL Classification: C4, C40
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
Legislative Cosponsorhip Networks in the U.S. House and Senate
-
A Network Analysis of Committees in the U.S. House of Representatives
By Mason Alexander Porter, Peter J. Mucha, ...
-
Mobilization, Social Networks, and Turnout: Evidence from Japan
By Gary W. Cox, Frances Mccall Rosenbluth, ...
-
Where You Sit is Where You Stand: The Impact of Seating Proximity on Legislative Cue-Taking
-
By Rung-yi Chen
-
Evidence and Beliefs Used in Congressional Hearings to Influence Federal Child Welfare Policy Making
-
Anti-Social Capital: A Profile of Rwandan Genocide Perpetrators' Social Networks