Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T14:28:12.789Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Apportionment Cycles as Natural Experiments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2017

Roy Elis ,
Neil Malhotra  and
Marc Meredith
Roy Elis*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Stanford University, 616 Serra Street, Stanford, CA 94305.
Neil Malhotra
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, 518 Memorial Way, Stanford, CA 94305
Marc Meredith
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania, 208 S. 37th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
*
e-mail: [email protected] (corresponding author)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Although there are compelling theoretical reasons to believe that unequal political representation in a legislature leads to an unequal distribution of funds, testing such theories empirically is challenging because it is difficult to separate the effects of representation from the effects of either population levels or changes. We leverage the natural experiment generated by infrequent and discrete census apportionment cycles to estimate the distributional effects of malapportionment in the U.S. House of Representatives. We find that changes in representation cause changes in the distribution of federal outlays to the states. Our method is exportable to any democratic system in which reapportionments are regular, infrequent, and nonstrategic.

Type
Research Article
Information
Political Analysis , Volume 17 , Issue 4: Special Issue: Natural Experiments in Political Science , Autumn 2009 , pp. 358 - 376
Copyright
Copyright © The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Political Methodology 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Authors' note: We would like to thank Jowei Chen, Vincenzo Galasso, Saar Golde, Karen Jusko, Brian Knight, Frances Lee, Jonathan Rodden, Jonathan Wand, and the participants of Stanford University's Workshop in Statistical Modeling and American Empirical Seminar for valuable comments and suggestions. We would also like to thank Fred Wollens for his excellent research assistance. A previous version of this article was presented at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association in Chicago.

References

Alesina, A., and Spolaore, E. 1997. On the number and size of nations. Quarterly Journal of Economics 112: 1027–56.Google Scholar
Angrist, J. D., and Lavy, V. 1999. Using Maimonides’ rule to estimate the effect of class size on scholastic achievement. Quarterly Journal of Economics 114: 533–75.Google Scholar
Ansolabehere, S., Gerber, A., and Snyder, J. M. 2002. Equal votes, equal money: court-ordered redistricting and public expenditures in the American states. American Political Science Review 96: 767–77.Google Scholar
Ansolabehere, S., Snyder, J. M., and Ting, M. M. 2003. Bargaining in bicameral legislatures: when and why does malapportionment matter? American Political Science Review 97: 471–81.Google Scholar
Atlas, C. M., Gilligan, T. W., Hendershott, R. J., and Zupan, M. A. 1995. Slicing the federal government net spending pie: who wins, who loses, and why. American Economic Review 85: 624–29.Google Scholar
Balinski, M. L., and Young, H. P. 2001. Fair representation: meeting the ideal of one man, one vote. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Banks, J. S., and Duggan, J. 2000. A bargaining model of collective choice. American Political Science Review 94: 73–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baron, D., and Ferejohn, J. 1989. Bargaining in legislatures. American Political Science Review 83: 1181–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barone, M., and Cohen, R. E. 1972–1980. The Almanac of American Politics. Washington, DC: National Journal Group.Google Scholar
Chen, J., and Malhotra, N. 2007. The law of k/n: the effect of chamber size on government spending in bicameral legislatures. American Political Science Review 101: 657–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report. 1970–1980.Google Scholar
David, P. T., and Eisenberg, R. 1961. Devaluation of the urban and suburban vote. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press.Google Scholar
Falk, J. 2006. The effects of congressional district size and representative's tenure on the allocation of federal funds. University of California, Berkeley, Manuscript.Google Scholar
Fenno, R. F. 1992. When incumbency fails: the senate career of Mark Andrews. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.Google Scholar
Fiorina, M. P. 1989. Congress: keystone of the Washington Establishment. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Hauk, W., and Wacziarg, R. 2007. Small states, big pork. Quarterly Journal of Political Science 2: 95–106.Google Scholar
Hirano, S. 2006. Electoral institutions, hometowns, and favored minorities: evidence from Japan's electoral reforms. World Politics 59: 51–82.Google Scholar
Hirano, S., and Ting, M. M. 2008. Direct and indirect representation. Columbia University, Manuscript.Google Scholar
Hoover, G., and Pecorino, P. 2005. The political determinants of federal expenditure at the state level. Public Choice 123: 95–113.Google Scholar
Imbens, G. W., and Angrist, J. D. 1994. Identification and estimation of local average treatment effects. Econometrica 62: 467–75.Google Scholar
Knight, B. G. 2008. Legislative representation, bargaining power, and the distribution of federal funds: evidence from the US senate. Economic Journal 118: 1785–803.Google Scholar
Larcinese, V., Rizzo, L., and Testa, C. 2007. Do small states get more federal monies? myth and reality about the US Senate malapporionment. London School of Economics, Manuscript.Google Scholar
Lee, F. E. 1998. Representation and public policy: the consequences of senate apportionment for the geographic distribution of federal funds. Journal of Politics 60: 34–62.Google Scholar
Lee, F. E. 2000. Senate representation and coalition building in distributive politics. American Political Science Review 94: 59–72.Google Scholar
Lee, F. E. 2003. Geographic politics in the us house of representatives: coalition building and distribution of benefits. American Journal of Political Science 47: 714–28.Google Scholar
Levitt, S. D., and Snyder, J. M. 1995. Political parties and the distribution of federal outlays. American Journal of Political Science 39: 958–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mansbridge, J. 2003. Rethinking representation. American Political Science Review 97: 515–28.Google Scholar
Mayhew, D. 1974. The Electoral Connection. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Office of Economic Opportunity. 1970–1980. Geographic distribution of federal funds. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Snyder, J. M., Ting, M. M., and Ansolabehere, S. 2005. Legislative bargaining under weighted voting. American Economics Review 95: 981–1004.Google Scholar
Ullah, A. 2004. Finite sample econometrics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
U.S. Census Bureau. 1985–2007. Consolidated federal funds report. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.Google Scholar
U.S. Census Bureau. 1995–1997. Federal expenditures by state. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.Google Scholar
U.S. Census Bureau. 1970–2007. Statistical abstract of the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.Google Scholar
Weingast, B. R., Shepsle, K. A., and Johnsen, C. 1981. The Political Economy of Benefits and Costs: A Neoclassical Approach to Distributive Politics. Journal of Political Economy 89: 642.Google Scholar
Woon, J. 2007. Direct democracy and the selection of representative institutions: voter support for apportionment initiatives, 1924–1962. State Politics and Policy Quarterly 7: 167–86.Google Scholar