Delegate Voting at the Constitutional Convention

主要研究者和共同主要研究者：基思L. Doughnut和Jac C. Heckelman标题：代表投票在制宪会议0752098项目摘要本研究项目将使用主要来源的信息，以恢复代表投票的制宪会议。 该项目的目标是利用代表们在辩论中的发言和来自一个州的大多数代表决定该州投票的正式规则，推断代表们在400多张实质性投票中的立场。 然后，调查人员将使用对缺失数据具有鲁棒性的程序来估计每个代表的理想点。这些估计值将用于检验三个假设。 首先，这些估计将被用来检验比尔德论点的有效性，以确定代表们是否受到他们的经济利益的影响，或者他们是否是更公正的参与者。其次，这些估计将被用来确定大妥协是否改变了代表的偏好。测试偏好的稳定性将有助于确定这一历史事件对加强国家政府的重要性。 最后，空间估计将被用来测试一些关键代表的偏好稳定性问题，据称他们改变了立场，因为他们被其他人说服了。 这些结果对代表理论（委托代理理论）、制度形成的经济理论以及对初衷的法律的解释都有重要的意义。 该项目将向几名本科生介绍专业研究的方法。它还将被用作学生本科研究计划支持的研究的跳板，该计划将有天赋的少数民族学生带到格鲁吉亚大学。 推断的投票将被存档，供其他学者使用。研究结果将在多个会议上发表，并在一系列学术期刊上发表。 它们还将用于在格鲁吉亚大学开设一门关于美国政治发展方法的课程，并补充维克森林大学关于社会选择理论的新课程。

PI and Co-PI: Keith L. Dougherty and Jac C. HeckelmanTitle: Delegate Voting at the Constitutional Convention 0752098Project AbstractThis research project will use primary source information to recover delegate votes from the Constitutional Convention. The goal of the project is to infer the positions of delegates on more than 400 substantive votes using the statements they made in debate and the formal rule that a majority of the delegates from a state determined the state's vote. The investigators will then estimate ideal points for each delegate using a procedure that is robust to missing data. These estimates will be used to test three hypotheses. First, the estimates will be used to test the validity of the Beard thesis to determine whether delegates were influenced by their economic interests or whether they were more impartial participants. Second, the estimates will be used to determine whether the Great Compromise altered delegate preferences. Testing for stability of preferences will help to determine the importance of this historical event for the strengthening of the national government. Finally, the spatial estimates will be used to test questions about the stability of preferences of a few key delegates, who allegedly changed their positions because they were persuaded by others. The results have important implications for theories of representation (principle-agent theories), economic theories about the formation of institutions, and legal interpretations of original intent. The project will introduce several undergraduates to the methods of professional research. It also will be used as a springboard for research supported by the Student Undergraduate Research Program, which brings gifted minority students to the University of Georgia. Inferred votes will be archived for use by other scholars. Results will be presented at several conferences and published in a series of academic journals. They will also be used to develop a course on the methods of American political development at the University of Georgia and to supplement a new course on the Theory of Social Choice at Wake Forest University.