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Interpersonal Relationships, Bipartisanship, and January 6th

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2024

JAMES M. CURRY*
Affiliation:
University of Utah, United States
JASON M. ROBERTS*
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States
*
Corresponding author: James M. Curry, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Utah, United States, [email protected]
Jason M. Roberts, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States, [email protected]

Abstract

For a member of Congress to be a successful lawmaker, they must work collaboratively with their colleagues. Previous work has found that interpersonal relationships among lawmakers are a key predictor of legislative collaboration—particularly among members from opposing parties. In the wake of the events of January 6, 2021, many Democratic lawmakers claimed that their relationships with some of their Republican colleagues were irretrievably broken and they would be unable to continue collaborating with members who voted against certifying electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election. Using data on original cosponsorship and legislative effectiveness from the 115th to 117th Congresses (2017–22) we find that Republican lawmakers who voted against the certification of electoral votes lost bipartisan collaborators and saw a drastic decrease in their legislative effectiveness in the 117th Congress.

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of American Political Science Association

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