Growing District Partisan Homogeneity and the Decline of the Personal Vote in U.S. House Elections

Abstract

Despite decline in the magnitude of U.S. House members’ personal vote, reelection safety has not been impaired. Oppenheimer’s explanation for this seeming paradox rests upon the growing partisan homogeneity of House districts; i.e., incumbents presumably reduced their level of constituency service knowing that any resulting attrition in their personal vote would be compensated by a more substantial partisan vote. My study uncovers some evidence to back up this explanation. I indeed find that members from safer partisan districts have been perceived by constituents as less engaged in constituency activity and that such activity has declined somewhat over time. The electoral consequences of reduction in constituency engagement, however, seem too small to have been a major cause of the attenuation in the personal vote.