The Nature, Determinants, and Consequences of Congressional Distributive Politics

Abstract

The allocation of public resources is a core responsibility of the United States federal government, and geographically targeted spending is both practically important and central to major theories of the US Congress. This dissertation advances the study of congressional distributive politics by incorporating a diverse array of methodological approaches to clarify the nature, determinants, and public opinion consequences of the geographic allocation of federal funds by the US Congress. The first two chapters use observational data on federal spending to clarify the nature of distributive policy change and show how legislative procedure shapes policy outcomes. The third and fourth chapters leverage survey experiments to shed light on the role of distributive politics in congressional elections. Together, the four chapters approach congressional distributive politics from different perspectives to generate insights on policymaking, representation, and electoral strategy.