Collaborative Research: The U.S. Senate Election Data Base, 1871-1913

这项合作研究调查的重点是1913年第17修正案批准之前美国参议院选举在州立法机构的选举动态。它是由一系列理论和经验问题推动的，这些问题既与政党作为组织有关，也与这个时代国家一级的立法行为有关。研究美国参议院的州立法选择产生了关于立法机构中的党派多数如何将他们的多数席位转化为有凝聚力的投票集团，进而产生反映选举多数的政策的假设。这个项目的核心是对1871年至1913年美国所有参议院选举的分析。它的出发点是挑战被用来描述这些选举的两个主要的、但又相互矛盾的“程式化事实”。第一，与莱克(1955)有关的是，参议院选举在十九世纪实际上是大众事务，州立法选举有效地发挥了影子参议员选举的作用。第二，与进步史学相关的是，政党领袖和企业利益集团完全控制着州立法活动，以至于美国参议员的选举在新一届立法会议的第一天之前就已经预先确定了。美国参议院的选择与立法者的一套更大的选择捆绑在一起，这些选择直接反映了他们对州和联邦党组织以及具体政策纲领的忠诚。因此，该项目旨在创建和传播关于从1871年到1913年的19世纪州立法机构中的政党组织的独特数据集，范围从立法者政党识别到商会组织投票，到美国参议院的投票选择，再到州选举结果。该数据集将包括1871年至1913年所有美国参议院选举的实际点名数据(取自州立法期刊)、与所有州立法机构的组织有关的点名数据、州立法选举数据以及产生美国参议院提名人的提名方法(立法核心小组、大会或初选)的数据。利用这一数据集进行的研究将补充目前的项目，这些项目调查州和国家选举之间的联系，以及这一时代地方一级政治初选的影响。更广泛的影响：州议员是选民中的政党和政府中的政党之间的关键纽带，无论是在州一级还是联邦一级(通过美国参议院选举)。这一研究项目的最终成果将是一个主要的数据库，它将首次使学者能够系统地分析州立法机构在个人和总体层面上的立法行为。因此，这一研究项目将使学者们能够全面了解美国政党制度在州一级的发展，并评估这一时代州和国家政党之间的一致性。

This collaborative research investigation focuses on the electoral dynamics of U.S. Senate elections in state legislatures before the ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913. It is motivated by a set of theoretical and empirical questions that pertain both to political parties as organizations and legislative behavior at the state level during this era. Studying state legislative choices for U.S. Senate generates hypotheses about how partisan majorities in legislatures translate their numerical strength into cohesive voting blocs, that, in turn, produce policies that reflect electoral majorities.At the core of this project is the analysis of all U.S. Senate elections in the United Statesfrom 1871 to 1913. Its starting point challenges the two major, yet contradictory,"stylized facts" that have been used to characterize these elections. The first, associatedwith Riker (1955), is that Senate elections were effectively popular affairs in thenineteenth century and that state legislative elections functioned effectively as shadowsenatorial elections. The second, associated with Progressive historiography is that party bosses and corporate interests completely controlled state legislative activity such that the election of U.S. senators was pre-determined before the first day of a new legislative session. The choice for U.S. Senate was bound up in a much larger set of choices for legislators that directly reflected their allegiance to state and federal party organizations and specific policy platforms. Consequently, this project is designed to create and disseminate a unique data set on party organizations in state legislatures in the nineteenth century from 1871 to 1913, ranging from legislator party identification, to chamber organization votes, to vote choice for U.S. Senate, to state electoral returns. This data set will include the actual roll call data (taken from state legislative journals) for all U.S. Senate elections from 1871 to 1913, roll call data pertaining to the organization of all state legislative chambers, state legislative election data, and data about the nominating methods (legislative caucus, convention, or primary) that produced U.S. Senate nominees. The research produced with this data set will complement current projects that investigate the ties between state and national elections, and the effects of political primaries at the local level during this era. Broader Impacts: State legislators were the key links between parties in the electorate and party in government, both at the state and federal levels (through U.S. Senate elections). The end product of this research project will be a major database that will, for the first time, enable scholars to systematically analyze legislative behavior in state legislatures, at the individual and aggregate levels. As such, this research project will enable scholars to draw a comprehensive picture of the development of the American political party system at the state level, as well as assess the coherence between state and national political parties during this era.