The Jeffords Switch : changing majority status and causal processes in the US Senate / Chris Den Hartog and Nathan W. Monroe.

Ann Arbor, Michigan : University of Michigan Press, a division of Michigan Publishing, [2019]

©2019

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The Jeffords Switch focuses on the Senate during the period between late January and September 2001. During this time period, the majority party in the Senate switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party without the changes in other variables that usually accompany such an event, such as a change in president, congressmen, or political issues. In what the authors term the "Jeffords switch", Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party in May 2001 and switched to being an independent. Because he agreed to vote with the Democratic Party on organizational votes, this gave the Democrats the 51-49 majority in the Senate. As a result of this rare turn of events, the authors are able to compare the data from before and after the switch in a quasi-experiment, while controlling the other variables in a way that would not be possible in a long-term study. Using the case of "Jeffords switch", Chris Den Hartog and Nathan W. Monroe examine how power is shared and transferred in the Senate, as well as whether Democratic bills became more successful after the switch. They also utilize the data after the switch, when the Republican Party still held a majority on many Democratic Party-led committees, to examine the power of the committee chairs to influence decisions. While the authors find that the majority party does influences Senate decisions, they are much more interested in exploring the method and limits of the majority party to achieve its goals.

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English

February 16, 2022

Includes bibliographical references.