UROP Project

Congress; Legislation; Political Science; American Politics

Research Mentor: Prof/Dr Andrew Ballard, He/him
Department, College, Affiliation: Political Science, Social Sciences and Public Policy
Contact Email: aob23b@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 3
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors, but I am most interested in those in social science and/or policy related fields.
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Not participating in the Roundtable

Project Description

I am seeking two RIBC interns to help finish the master data detailing bills introduced in Congress between 1981-2020 for a co-authored book project. In the book, we develop and test an argument about when, why, and how minority parties in Congress influence policy, positing that minority capacity increases when the majority party is more constrained, when the minority party is more cohesive, and when the minority has the motivation to legislate rather than obstruct. Research assistants would help us with three tasks: determining the primary policy topic of bills in 2019-20, systematically identifying partisan campaign promises, and identifying instances of crisis response legislation.

Research Tasks: First, our theory depends on knowing something about the policy topics that bills deal with. We argue that Democrats and Republicans are more and less cohesive both in general and on specific issues, and that understanding the latter is important for understanding both the degree to which the majority party is constrained in doing what they want legislatively and how cohesive the minority party is. The Congressional Bills Project includes these data up through the 115th Congress (through 2018) but stopped recording that information in 2019. We want to update these data through the 116th Congress (through 2020), and research assistants would help determine the policy topics they primarily deal with.

Second, a common way in which majority parties are constrained in what to put on the legislative agenda is feeling like they need to act on promises made on the campaign trail. For example, Republicans in 2017 likely would not have made such a strong push to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, which ultimately did not get enough support from their members, if the party had not campaigned so hard on the issue over the multiple federal elections since the law was passed in 2010. Research assistants would help determine which were the most important campaign promises made by each party in each election to determine which issues were more likely to constrain the majority.

Third, another major constraint for majority parties is having to respond to crises, such as the financial crisis in 2008, the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and COVID in 2020. Research assistants would also help identify all the cases where Congress felt compelled to act in response to a crisis, as well as detail each case.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Proficiency in Excel required
Proficiency in R preferred but not required