The Iraq War, Partisanship, and Candidate Attributes: Variation in Partisan Swing in the 2006 U.S. House Elections
Authors: Grose, Christian R.; Oppenheimer, Bruce I.
Source: Legislative Studies Quarterly, Volume 32, Number 4, November 2007 , pp. 531-557(27)
Publisher: Comparative Legislative Research Center, The University of Iowa
Key:
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content
Abstract:
Although partisan swing is often assumed to be uniform across congressional districts, our analysis of the 2006 House elections demonstrates that systematic variation exists. In addition to incumbency status, partisanship, spending, and scandal, variation in the local salience of national issues across districts affects vote shifts in these districts. Notably, partisan swing in Republican districts proved highly sensitive to the number of Iraq war deaths from that district and, to a lesser degree, to the roll-call vote of Republican House members on the war resolution. These findings have implications for theories of anticipatory representation, retrospective voting, and electoral accountability.Document Type: Research article
Key:
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content

Click here for Page Help