The Impact of Party Recruitment Activity upon Legislative Role Orientations: A Path Analysis

Abstract

This study examines the linkage between party organization and party government by measuring the impact of party recruitment upon role orientations of legislators. Path analysis is utilized to test the central hypothesis, which is: The greater the recruitment activity of a party, the more competitive the legislative primary election as perceived by the legislator, and the stronger the perceived party organizational strength, the more likely the legislator will adopt a party (delegate, district, and gubernatorial) role orientation. The three independent variables of the model explain 44 percent of the variance in party role orientations, 32 percent in representational role orientations, 35 percent in constituency role orientations,and 38 percent in gubernatorial role orientations; and a strong relationship between the recruitment activity and role orientations is substantiated. The linkages between voters, party organizations, and legislators are central to representative popular government and American democracy. While the relationship between party organization and party government has never been fully studied, the involvement of the party as a recruitment agent in the selection of the political leaders is central to this linkage. Two major questions concerning the relationship between party organization and party in government will be analyzed. First, what is the direct impact of party recruitment activity upon the role orientations of legislators? Second, what is the indirect influence of party recruitment activity upon legislative role orientations through the legislator's perception of party organizational and electoral strength? Most political scientists agree that the control of candidate recruitment, as well as the responsiveness of public officeholders to a party program, are two major prerequisites to party government. Responsible party government has never been completely achieved in the American party system at any level of goverment. Federalism and the separation of powers are two strong forces which work against responsible parties at the national level in the United States, although recent reforms in Congress, in the Democratic