TIME-SERIES EVIDENCE ON SHIRKING IN THE UNITED-STATES HOUSE-OF-REPRESENTATIVES

This paper presents time series evidence on the voting behavior of mem bers of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1990. The empir ical results indicate that voting behavior of individual congressmen i s remarkably stable over time. We find no evidence of economically sig nificant last term effects on voting behavior, nor are there important effects of legislative tenure on voting patterns. The most significan t deviations in voting behavior occur for congressmen who failed to wi n their reelection bid, suggesting that sizable deviations from previo us policy positions may result in swift retribution by constituents in the district.