Examining the Influences over Roll Call Voting in Multiple Issue Areas: A Comparative US State Analysis

Abstract

Examinations of roll call voting have found that issue salience affects the influences over roll call voting in different issue areas. However, it is unclear whether these findings can be extended to legislatures generally as studies have focused only on the US congress or one US state legislature. This article examines the influences over roll call voting in 15 issue areas in five legislative chambers in four US states. The results show the influences over roll call voting vary based on issue salience, but chamber variations suggest that features in the political environment, such as party competition and the resources available to legislators, are just as important in understanding the factors that influence roll call voting.