The US Congress is the world’s most studied legislature, but data on its many facets often remains isolated. This note introduces an updated version of CongressData, a database of over 1300 member-year and district-year level variables between 1789 and 2024 that compiles district demographics and economic variables, legislator characteristics, lawmaking behavior, and committee membership. We also introduce an R package that makes it easy to subset and cite data and an associated web app. We first draw attention to the metadata in CongressData. Then, leveraging CongressData, we highlight analyses that cut across these types of data. Our illustration uses dimensional analysis on the the determinants of bill introduction by Members of Congress. In doing so, we assess several prominent explanations for bill in-troduction. Exploring the factors that govern this focus, we find that committee membership is more associated than party, ideology, member characteristics, or district demographics. The dataset will aid scholars of Congress and American institutions, enabling them to adjudicate between different factors to explain the phenomena of interest to them.
AdlerE. S.CaytonA. (2021). Shelter in a storm: Campaign fundraising, party Com-petition, and the changing nature of congressional committee assignments. Congress and the Presidency, 48(3), 287–318. https://doi.org/10.1080/07343469.2020.1800134
2.
AdlerE. S.WilkersonJ. D. (2013). Congress and the politics of problem solving. Cam- bridge University Press.
3.
AldrichJ. H. (1995). Why parties? The origin and transformation of political parties in America. University of Chicago Press.
4.
AndersonW. D.Box-SteffensmeierJ. M.Sinclair-ChapmanV. (2003). The keys to legislative success in the US house of representatives. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 28(3), 357–386. https://doi.org/10.3162/036298003x200926
5.
BauerR. A.de Sola PoolI.DexterL. A. (1963). International Executive. American Business and Public Policy, 5(3), 25–27.
CaytonA. F. (2017). Consistency versus responsiveness: Do members of congress change positions on specific issues in response to their districts?Political Research Quarterly, 70(1), 3–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912916670271
9.
ChiouF.GoplerudM. (2024). Effective lawmaking across congressional eras. The Journal of Politics, 86(3), 997–1012. https://doi.org/10.1086/729963
10.
CokerD. C.CrainW. M. (1994). Legislative committees as loyalty-generating institu-tions. Public Choice, 81(3), 195–221. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01053230
11.
CoxG. W.TerryW. C. (2008). Legislative productivity in the 93d–105th congresses. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 33(4), 603–618. https://doi.org/10.3162/036298008786403123
12.
CurryJ. M.LeeF. E. (2020). The limits of party: Congress and lawmaking in a polarized era. University of Chicago Press.
13.
DeeringC. J.SmithS. S. (1997). Committees in congress. Sage.
14.
EganP. J. (2013). Partisan priorities: How issue ownership drives and distorts American politics. Cambridge University Press.
15.
FennoR. F. (1978). Home style: House members in their districts. Little Brown.
16.
Foster-MolinaE. (2017). Historical congressional legislation and district demographics 1972– 2014. Harvard Dataverse.
17.
FrischS. A.KellyS. Q. (2006). Committee assignment politics in the US house of Repre-sentatives. University of Oklahoma Press.
18.
GrossmannM.JordanM. P.McCrainJ. (2021). The correlates of state policy and the structure of state panel data. State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 21(4), 430–450. https://doi.org/10.1017/spq.2021.17
Harbridge-YongL.CraigV.WisemanA. E. (2023). The bipartisan path to effective lawmaking. The Journal of Politics, 85(3), 1048–1063. https://doi.org/10.1086/723805
22.
HardenJ. J.CarseyT. M. (2012). Balancing constituency representation and party responsiveness in the US senate: The conditioning effect of state ideological heterogeneity. Public Choice, 150(1-2), 137–154. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-010-9693-7
23.
HeberligE. S.LarsonB. A. (2007). Party fundraising, descriptive representation, and the battle for majority control: Shifting leadership appointment strategies in the US house of representatives, 1990–2002. Social Science Quarterly, 88(2), 404–421. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2007.00464.x
HuittR. K. (1990). Working within the system. IGS Press.
26.
HuntC. R. (2022). Home field advantage: Roots, reelection, and representation in the modern congress. University of Michigan Press.
27.
JenkinsJ. A.StewartC. (2023). Fighting for the speakership: An update. Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy, 4(3), 431–478. https://doi.org/10.1561/113.00000084
28.
KingdonJ. W. (1989). Congressmen’s voting decisions. University of Michigan Press.
29.
KrehbielK. (1992). Information and legislative organization. University of Michigan Press.
MayhewD. R. (1974). Congress: The electoral connection. Yale university press.
32.
MiquelG. P. I.SnyderJ. M.Jr. (2006). Legislative effectiveness and legislative careers. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 31(3), 347–381. https://doi.org/10.3162/036298006x201841
33.
Mor´ınJ. L.TorresR.CollingwoodL. (2021). Cosponsoring and cashing in: US house members’ support for punitive immigration policy and financial payoffs from the private prison industry. Business and Politics, 23(4), 492–509. https://doi.org/10.1017/bap.2021.6
34.
ParkerD. C. W.CraigG. (2009). Making a good impression: Resource allocation, home styles, and Washington work. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 34(4), 493–524. https://doi.org/10.3162/036298009789869709
35.
QuagliaL.EppD. A.MadelK. R. (2022). Does partisanship explain spending patterns in congressional bill proposals?Party Politics, 28(1), 38–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068820954626
36.
ShepsleK. A.WeingastB. R. (1981). Structure-induced equilibrium and legislative choice. Public Choice, 37(3), 503–519. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00133748
37.
StewartC.WoonJ. (2017). Congressional committee assignments, 103rd to 114th congresses, 1993–2017. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
38.
StratmannT. (2000). Congressional voting over legislative careers: Shifting positions and changing constraints. American Political Science Review, 94(3), 665–676. https://doi.org/10.2307/2585838
SulkinT.PaulT.UsryK. (2015). What gets rewarded? Legislative activity and constituency approval. Political Research Quarterly, 68(4), 690–702. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912915608699
41.
VoldenC.WisemanA. E. (2014). Legislative effectiveness in the United States congress: The lawmakers. Cambridge University Press.
42.
WoonJ. (2008). Bill sponsorship in congress: The moderating effect of agenda positions on legislative proposals. The Journal of Politics, 70(1), 201–216. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022381607080140
