Party Pressure and Representation

I study how political parties affect representation in the U.S. House.To do so, I account for party pressure on the votes of members in an otherwise standard spatial model that uses roll call voting patterns to identify member ideologies.I simultaneously estimate voter ideologies from survey responses, leveraging their responses on issues before Congress to bridge voters and members into the same ideological space.I find that, relative to a model without party pressure, member ideologies and those of their constituents are much more closely aligned.The results imply that, in terms of actual votes, parties drive a wedge between members and those they represent.I provide evidence that parties do so strategically, balancing the need for legislative wins and the electoral concerns of their members.