Bill sponsorship and legislative success among freshmen senators, 1954–1986

Abstract

Freshmen senators of the 1980s are often portrayed as more individualistic and activist than the freshmen of the 1950s. Freshmen today possess greater resources and appear much more likely to use those resources in whatever policy areas are of interest to them. One indication of this increased activism in the Senate is the dramatic increase in floor activity. Freshmen senators tightly bound by formal and informal restrictions in the 1950s have since gained important committee assignments and increased their staff. Despite their enhanced resources and increased activism in some areas, we found that freshmen senators from the 1980s were no more likely to sponsor legislation and were no more successful at passing their own legislation than the freshmen Senators of the 1950s.