Showing 1 – 18 of 18 results.
Curated
ABC News Poll, November 1990 (ICPSR 9561)
Released/updated on: 2007-07-03
Geographic coverage: United States
Time period: 1990-11-01--1990-11-04
This data collection is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that evaluate the Bush presidency and solicit opinions on a variety of political and social issues. Topics covered include approval ratings for public officials (George Bush, Congress, the respondent's representative in Congress, Democrats, and Republicans) on the issues of job performance, handling of the economy, and handling of the situation caused by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the budget deficit reduction plan (and the income group that would be most affected by it), and the income group that Bush, Democrats, and Republicans cared most about. Respondents also were asked how important various political issues were to their vote choice on election day, if they planned to vote in the upcoming general election, for which party they would vote, and whether they would vote to re-elect their own representative. Other questions focusing on the situation in the Persian Gulf addressed the issues of the use of military force if necessary to ensure Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait, long-term military presence of the United States in the Gulf region, the use of military force should the economic embargo prove unsuccessful, the likelihood that the United States would go to war with Iraq, and Americans and other foreigners being held hostage by Iraq. Background information provided includes political alignment, registered voter status, 1988 presidential and congressional vote choices, education, age, race, income, sex, and state/region of residence.
Curated
ABC News/Washington Post House Vote Poll, December 1998 (ICPSR 2713)
Released/updated on: 1999-06-23
Geographic coverage: United States
This special topic poll, fielded December 19, 1998, sought respondents' views regarding the United States House of Representatives vote to impeach President Bill Clinton, announced earlier in the day. Those queried were asked for their opinions on whether the vote was based on fact or on partisan politics, who was to blame for the situation, whether Clinton should fight the charges in the Senate or resign, and whether the Senate should vote to remove Clinton from office, censure him, or drop the charges. A series of questions addressed the same-day resignation of Republican Louisiana Congressman and House of Representatives Speaker-elect Bob Livingston after the disclosure of his extramarital affairs. Respondents were asked whether they agreed with Livingston's decision to resign, whether his resignation would convince Clinton to resign, and whether the increased attention being paid to the extramarital affairs of elected officials was appropriate. Additional topics covered Clinton's ability to serve effectively, the ability of Congress to work effectively, the ongoing United States air strikes against Iraq, Clinton's moral standards, the purpose of the impeachment process, and the role of the president in setting an example with his/her personal life. Background information on respondents includes age, sex, race, education, political party, political orientation, and voter participation history.
Curated
ABC News/Washington Post Impeachment Poll, December 1998 (ICPSR 2709)
Released/updated on: 1999-06-23
Geographic coverage: United States
This special topic poll, fielded December 15, 1998, sought respondents' views on the upcoming vote by the United States House of Representatives to impeach President Bill Clinton. Those queried were asked whether they believed that the House should impeach or censure Clinton and, if Clinton were impeached, whether the Senate should vote to remove him from office. Respondents were asked for their impression of Clinton as a person, how they would feel if Clinton were removed from office, whether Clinton's actions were serious enough to warrant his removal from office, and whether this situation was Clinton's fault or merely a case of his critics taking advantage of his slip. Additional topics covered the correlation between a representative's vote on the impeachment of Clinton and his/her constituents' choice in the next Congressional election, and whether Clinton should resign or fight the charges if he were impeached. Background information on respondents includes age, sex, race, education, and political party.
Curated
Annual Time Series Statistics for the United States, 1929-1968 (ICPSR 27)
Released/updated on: 1992-02-16
Geographic coverage: United States
Time period: 1929-01-01--1968-01-01
This study is a 40-year time series of social, economic, and political indicators at the national level for the United States in the period 1929-1968. The variables include data on expenditures from the federal budget by various departments, agencies, and commissions, the number of employees in the various United States departments, measures of the political characteristics of the United States Congress, such as the number of Repuplicans, Democrats, and "other" party members in the United States Senate and in the House of Representatives, business and consumer expenditures, and attributes of the population. Data are also provided on the number per 1,000 of immigrants to the United States, membership of all the religious bodies in the United States, labor union membership, total households in the United States, total civilian labor force, and the number of the unemployed. Demographic variables provide information on education, births, and death rates. The unit of analysis is the year. Variables 2-281 cover the period from 1929-1968 and Variables 282-408 cover only the period from 1947-1968.
Curated
Partially restricted
Simple Crosstabs
Candidates for Office: Beliefs and Strategies, 1964 (ICPSR 34101)
Released/updated on: 2014-08-08
Geographic coverage: United States, Wisconsin
This study is based on face-to-face interviews with Wisconsin candidates, both winners and losers in the general election, running for various offices in 1964. Half of the sample is composed of a census of all 1964 Wisconsin candidates for the United States Congress and statewide elective office. The other half is a stratified random sample of candidates for the state legislature (both senate and assembly), chosen to equal in number the number of congressional and statewide candidates. The stratification is by geography in the state of Wisconsin.
For more information on the study, including detailed sampling and method information, please refer to Kingdon, J.W. (1968). Candidates for office: Beliefs and strategies. New York: Random House.
Curated
CBS News National Poll, June #1, 2011 (ICPSR 33965)
Released/updated on: 2012-05-25
Geographic coverage: United States
This poll, fielded June 3-7, 2011, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling his job as president, foreign policy, the economy, the situation with Afghanistan, the threat of terrorism, and the federal budget deficit. Respondents were also asked whether they approved of Congress, about the condition of the economy, and whether things in the country were on the right track. Opinions were sought on the severity of the federal budget deficit, overall approval of the Republican and Democratic parties, whether Barack Obama and the Republicans in Congress have spent enough time on important issues, the handling of the federal budget deficit by the Republicans and Democrats in Congress, and the United States' presence in Libya and Afghanistan. Multiple questions addressed the 2012 Republican presidential candidates including respondents' overall opinions of several of the candidates. Further questions asked for respondents' opinions on the debt ceiling debate, including the potential effects of reducing the deficit on the number of jobs, making changes to Medicare, Social Security, and increasing taxes, the probability of a stock market downturn if the debt ceiling was not raised, whether spending cuts should be included in talks of raising the debt ceiling, and whether the debate in Washington about the debt ceiling is mostly about honest disagreements about economic policy or political gain. Additional topics include health care law, Medicare, the regional job and housing markets, the respondents' selection of the most important issues, voter participation, as well as knowledge of and relationship to an individual killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, household income, religious preference, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), whether respondents thought of themselves as born-again Christians, marital status, employment status, number of children, number of people in the household between the ages of 18 and 29 years old, political party affiliation, political philosophy, and voter registration status.
Curated
CBS News/New York Times Monthly Poll #3, October 1998 (ICPSR 2665)
Released/updated on: 2010-09-10
Geographic coverage: United States
This poll, fielded October 12-13, 1998, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked to give their opinions of President Bill Clinton and his handling of the presidency, foreign policy, and the economy, as well as their views on the United States Congress, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde. Those queried were asked whether they planned to vote in the upcoming November 1998 congressional elections, for which party's candidates they intended to vote, what issue was most influential in terms of their electoral decisions, the impact that the Clinton scandal would have on their choices, and whether their votes could be viewed as votes for or against Clinton. Respondents were asked for their opinions of the past year's congressional record, specifically, Congress's work in the areas of campaign fundraising, the economy, Social Security/Medicare, patients' rights, and the budget. Those queried were also asked whether Clinton should remain in office, resign, be impeached, or be censured if it were determined that he either lied under oath about his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, or asked her to lie under oath about their relationship. A series of questions was posed about the House Judiciary Committee's impeachment inquiry. Topics covered the length of the inquiry, whether Republicans and Democrats would be able to work together in a nonpartisan manner, and whether this inquiry and the prior investigation were sound uses of time, effort, and money. Additional questions addressed the impact of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal on Congress and on the Clinton administration, and whether Clinton could still be an effective president. Background information on respondents includes age, race, sex, political party, political orientation, marital status, employment status, voter registration and participation history, religion, education, family income, and age of children in household.
Curated
CBS News/New York Times Monthly Poll #4, January 1999 (ICPSR 2720)
Released/updated on: 2009-04-29
Geographic coverage: United States
Time period: 1999-01-30--1999-02-01
This poll, fielded January 30-February 1, 1999, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked to give their opinions of President Bill Clinton, the United States Congress, Vice President Al Gore, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr, former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, and the Republican and Democratic parties. Respondents were next asked a series of questions comparing the two main political parties, including which party had better ideas for both solving the nation's current problems and for leading the country into the 21st century, as well as which party was better at upholding traditional family values. Opinions were also elicited as to which party was the more likely to make the right decisions about Social Security, to improve education and the health care system, and to reduce taxes and crime. Respondents were also asked how they would recommend that Congress use the budget surplus projected over the coming years, including cutting taxes, paying down the national debt, and preserving programs like Medicare and Social Security. Particular emphasis was given in this poll to the Senate impeachment trial of President Clinton. Respondents were queried as to how closely they were following the news of the trial, whether they approved of the Senate's handling of the matter, and what their expectations were for the length of the trial. Opinions were elicited on the need for witness testimony, whether President Clinton's actions were serious enough to warrant removal from office, and the constitutional necessity of a final Senate vote. Other questions focused on each political party's role in the impeachment matter, whether the parties were working in a partisan manner, whether the parties' actions would help or hurt their respective images and prospects in the 2000 election, and whether House or Senate members of each party handled themselves more responsibly. Respondents were also asked whether they had learned anything new from the trial, whether the Senate should take into account public opinion when making their decisions, how the respondent wanted his or her senator to vote, and whether the respondents cared about the outcome. Finally, respondents were asked for their predictions as to whether President Clinton would be removed from office and, if not, whether he could still remain effective as president. Attention was also directed toward the Republican party, in terms of whether it was out of touch with the American people--or even rank and file Republicans--on the impeachment matter, and whether the party was too conservative. Background information on respondents includes age, race, sex, education, religion, marital status, political party, political orientation, recent voting history, and family income.
Curated
CBS News/New York Times Monthly Poll, November 1990 (ICPSR 9617)
Released/updated on: 2011-01-20
Geographic coverage: United States
Time period: 1990-11-13--1990-11-15
This data collection is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that evaluate the Bush presidency and solicit opinions on a variety of political and social issues. Demographic information collected includes sex, age, race, education, family income, religion, ethnicity, political orientation, party preference, and voting behavior. Issues addressed in this survey include Bush's handling of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, whether the United States did the right thing by sending troops to Saudi Arabia and whether Bush had explained the situation in the Middle East well enough so that people understood why troops were sent, whether Bush was correct to send additional troops to the Persian Gulf, whether respondents anticipated the United States military fighting Iraq or a peaceful resolution to the situation, whether the Bush Administration tried hard enough to reach a diplomatic solution or was too quick to involve American military forces, whether the United States should commence military action against Iraq soon or wait, and whether the United States' main purpose in sending troops was to fulfill its duty to protect its friends or to prevent the price of oil from increasing too much if the Iraqis controlled oil fields in the Middle East. Respondents were asked if the following were good enough reasons for taking military action against Iraq: to restore the government of Kuwait and defend Saudi Arabia against aggression, to stop Saddam Hussein from developing nuclear weapons, or to protect the source of much of the world's oil. Other questions probed for respondents' opinions on whether Congress should have to vote on a declaration of war or if the president should be allowed to send troops into combat when there is no time to wait for Congress to act, and whether who is elected makes any real difference. A series of questions dealing with family dinnertime habits and the relative importance of eating dinner together as a family was also asked, along with a series of questions dealing with home mortgages, Social Security deductions, and the number of times the respondent changed jobs and moved in the last five years.
Curated
CBS News/New York Times Persian Gulf War Polls, January-February 1991 (ICPSR 9619)
Released/updated on: 2006-01-12
Geographic coverage: United States
Time period: 1991-01-11--1991-02-25
This series of interviews tracks public opinion regarding the Persian Gulf War from the period immediately prior to the initiation of bombing in January 1991 to the ensuing ground combat in February. In addition to monitoring the evolving war, these data also provide an ongoing evaluation of the Bush presidency during that time period. Part 1 (January 5-7) examines sending troops to Saudi Arabia vs. staying out, the likelihood of war, Bush's efforts to find diplomatic solutions, negotiating with Saddam Hussein vs. forcing Iraq to leave Kuwait, the possibility of terrorist attacks in the United States, how closely the respondent followed the news of the Persian Gulf situation, military action against Iraq vs. waiting for sanctions to work, requiring a congressional declaration of war, Congress voting on a declaration of war before or after the January 15 deadline for Iraq's withdrawal, the January 9 meeting between Secretary of State James Baker and Iraq's foreign minister, attempting to meet with Hussein before January 15, and what might happen in the Persian Gulf in the event of war or otherwise. Part 2 (January 11-13) poses questions identical to Part 1 and addresses new issues, including whether Bush had already decided prior to the January 15 deadline to send troops into battle, whether a Kuwaiti offer to trade part of its territory in exchange for Iraq's withdrawal would be an acceptable resolution to the crisis, whether congressional authorization of the use of force would increase the likelihood of war, how congressmen should vote concerning the authorization of force, what Bush should do if only one house of Congress votes in favor of the use of force, whether the failure of the meeting between Secretary Baker and Iraq's foreign minister on January 9 made war more likely, and more questions related to what might happen in the Persian Gulf in the event of war or otherwise. Part 3 (January 5-7, 17 Panel) replicates both Part 1, the January 5-7 survey, and Part 5, the January 17 survey. It also examines new issues, including whether the United States did the right thing in initiating military action against Iraq, whether the war would last weeks or months, the number of expected American casualties in the war, whether the United States should remove Saddam Hussein from power in addition to driving Iraqi troops out of Kuwait, bombing military targets in heavily populated civilian areas vs. targets not in heavily populated areas, impressions of how the war was proceeding for the United States, how the respondent first heard about the war, perceptions of the main reason why United States forces were fighting in the Persian Gulf, and the reliability of Israel as an ally of the United States. Part 4 (January 17-20 Combined) replicates questions from Part 3, the January 17 survey, and probes new areas, including whether the war to defeat Iraq would be worth the cost in human life and financial resources, whether news that the war had begun made the respondent feel more worried or relieved, whether members of Congress who voted against the use of military force were viewed more/less favorably, FBI interviews of Arab-American business/community leaders, Arab-American sympathy for Iraq, Israeli retaliation for future Iraqi missile attacks, opposition to the war via protest marches/rallies and their effect on the war effort, military/economic aid to Israel, whether the United States military was holding back information about the war, if following the war news had affected the respondent's schedule, and whether the United States was correct to enter the Vietnam War. Questions unique to Part 5 (January 17) include whether the respondent felt proud about the United States' actions in the Persian Gulf, and whether getting Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait or the outcome of the struggle for freedom in the Soviet Union was of more importance to the United States. Questions unique to Part 6 (January 18) include whether Israel should retaliate for future Iraqi missile attacks. Part 7 (January 19) repeats questions from Part 6. Questions asked in Part 8 (January 20) include whether military/economic aid to Israel should be increased. Questions unique to Part 9 (February 12-13) consider whether Iraqi troops could be forced out of Kuwait by continued bombing or if a ground war would be necessary, the timing of the start of a ground war, whether a ground war would be worth the loss of thousands of American troops, the targeting of civilian as well as military locations for bombing, Israel's involvement in the war, continuing to fight until Hussein was removed from power vs. ending the war when Iraqi troops left Kuwait, whether removing Hussein from power would be worth the cost of thousands of American troops, effects of the war on the respondent, the timing of negotiations to end the war, the United States' inflicting excessive damage on Iraq, paying the cost of rebuilding Iraq after the war, the effect of the war on government's ability to function in other areas, and satisfaction with the accuracy and quantity of war-related information. Questions unique to Part 10 (February 24) involve whether the United States was correct to begin the ground war, the anticipated length of the ground war, whether Bush tried hard enough to reach a diplomatic solution before beginning the ground war, whether the United States and Iraq were close to a negotiated settlement before the ground war began, and opinions of Mikhail Gorbachev and his motives in trying to negotiate an end to the war. Questions unique to Part 11 (February 25) examine whether the United States should set up a new government in Iraq if Saddam Hussein was removed from power, whether United States troops should remain in the Gulf after the war to insure stability in the region, the extent to which the people of Iraq were to blame for allowing Saddam Hussein to remain in power, and whether the United States should allow the Kuwaiti royal family to return to its position leading Kuwait after the war.
Curated
Congressional Attitudes Toward Congressional Organization (ICPSR 7001)
Released/updated on: 2006-01-18
Geographic coverage: United States
This data collection contains information on the opinions of United States congressmen and women on their roles in Congress, the roles and functions of Congress, congressional organizations and procedures, and the problems and effectiveness of Congress. Three general types of respondents were interviewed: general, leader, and top leader respondents. Respondents were asked about their position on various proposals for congressional reorganization, such as the use of electronic voting devices, four-year terms of office, and year-long congressional sessions, and their opinions on the likelihood of these proposals being adopted. Other items probed their views on issues such as the protection of minority interests, party bloc vote, moral-based decisions, rule of the majority, equality of Congress and the Executive branch, party compromise, degree of influence of lobbyists, and pressing congressional problems. Demographic items specify age, occupation, education, previous political experience, political party affiliation, length of service in Congress, congressional leadership position, ranks, and committee membership and functions, as well as voting records, constituency characteristics by region and district, percentage of total party unity votes, conservative coalition support, and bipartisan support.
Curated
Partially restricted
Simple Crosstabs
Congressmen's Voting Decisions, 1969 (ICPSR 33301)
Released/updated on: 2014-04-16
Geographic coverage: District of Columbia, United States
The core of this data collection is a set of interviews with a stratified random sample of members of the House conducted during the first session of the Ninety-First Congress in 1969. Rather than asking respondents in general about how they make decisions, the interviews concentrated on some specific vote or votes that were currently or very recently under consideration. The interview sought to develop a life history of each member's decision, including the steps through which the representative went, the considerations which he weighted, and the political actors who influenced him. These interview data were supplemented by a good deal of immersion in the process: repeated conversations with staff, lobbyists, and journalists, the reading of documents, and observations of committee meetings and floor debates.
Each of the sampled members was interviewed several times during the course of the session on different votes. It should be emphasized that the unit of analysis is the decision, not the congressman, or in other words, the number of representatives multiplied by the number of decisions on which each was interviewed. All interviews were conducted face-to-face in Washington D.C. in 1969. To minimize recall deficiencies, respondents were interviewed at the time of the vote or within the following few days.
For more information on the study, including detailed sampling and method information, please refer to Kingdon, J.W. (1989). Congressman's voting decisions. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Curated
Cooperative Congressional Election Study, 2006 (ICPSR 30141)
Released/updated on: 2012-03-26
Geographic coverage: United States
The Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES) focused on the study of how Americans view Congress and hold their representatives accountable during elections. The very large sample for this survey provided the opportunity to study legislative constituencies -- states and congressional districts -- as well as voters within those constituencies, to study very rare or low frequency events or very small populations, and to measure with fairly high accuracy interactions. Respondents of this survey were asked whether they approved of the way George W. Bush was handling his job as president, what they thought was the most important problem facing the country, whether they were satisfied with the way things were going in the country, and their opinions of the condition of the economy in their communities, in their state, and in the United States. Respondents were also asked whether they approved of the way their governor, their United States Senators, and their United States House Representatives were handling their jobs. Information was collected on whether respondents thought their neighborhoods were politically active, whether they were mostly Democrat or Republican, whether the United States was more Democratic or Republican, and whether they were interested in politics and current affairs. Information was collected on which candidate respondents planned on voting for in the races for governor, for United States Senate, and for United States House of Representatives, and which party they wanted to see control the United States Congress. Opinions were solicited on "partial-birth abortion", federal government stem cell research funding, United States troop withdrawal from Iraq, illegal immigration, increasing the minimum wage, cutting taxes on capital gains, a trade agreement that reduces barriers between the United States and Central America, and whether respondents thought their United States Senators voted for or against these issues. Respondents were queried about their voting experience on November 7, 2006, including whether they voted and how they voted, whether they were asked to show identification, how long they had to wait in line, whether there was a problem with their registration, who they voted for, and whether they voted for the Republican or Democratic candidate for various offices on the ballot including Secretary of State and Attorney General. Information was collected on whether respondents were part of any organizations, donated money to any political candidates or political party committees, tried to persuade someone to vote or how to vote, whether they were contacted by a candidate or political party organization to get them to vote, and who they thought would have the most seats after the newly elected United States House of Representatives and the Senate were sworn in. Other topics included same-sex marriage, Social Security, environmental protection, and Affirmative Action. Demographic information collected included race, religious preference, religious attendance, political viewpoints, employment status, home ownership status, household income, political party affiliation, and voter registration status.
Curated
Simple Crosstabs
Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES) Latino-Hispanic Survey, [United States], 2010 (ICPSR 35616)
Released/updated on: 2018-02-19
Geographic coverage: United States
The Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES) studies how Americans view Congress and hold their representatives accountable during elections, how they voted and their electoral experiences, and how their behavior and experiences vary with political geography and social context. This study constructed a very large sample capable of capturing variation across a wide variety of legislative constituencies. The state-level samples are sufficiently large as to measure with a reasonable degree of precision the distribution of voters' preferences within most states. The 2010 CCES involved 30 teams, yielding a Common Content sample of 55,400 cases. The Latino-Hispanic Survey was conducted concurrent to the core CCES study. The Latino-Hispanic Survey was a study of Latino/Hispanic individuals, yielding 1,150 voting-age Latinos. As part of the study, the core set of 2010 CCES Common Content questions were asked along with a battery of Latino-specific questions. Demographic information include age, income, race, and gender. The survey was administered in English and Spanish, with the respondent selecting which language they preferred to use at the start of each wave of the study.
Curated
Database of [United States] Congressional Historical Statistics, 1789-1989 (ICPSR 3371)
Released/updated on: 2009-02-03
Geographic coverage: United States
Time period: 1789-01-01--1989-01-01
This data release is composed of tables from a database of United States Congressional statistics spanning the time period 1789 through 1989. The sources of the data were studies in the ICPSR collection and other historical texts and studies. There are eleven data files in total, including two additional tables that have been added since the first release. Some files contain records for additional Congresses. The rows in the various files describe different entities. For example, in the Votes Table file, each row contains a record of a vote by a particular member on a particular roll call vote. The Member Table file contains a record for each member of Congress, while the Serves Table file contains a record for each member for every Congress in which he or she served. See the descriptions of each file in the codebook for details about its contents. The data from the various files can be combined by matching the fields that they have in common. Cross-file searches should be conducted using the Member_ID field. However, not every file has the Member_ID field. In those cases, an alternative common field should be used.
Curated
Referenda and Primary Election Materials (ICPSR 6)
Released/updated on: 1995-06-05
Geographic coverage: North Carolina, Indiana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Montana, Kentucky, California, Kansas, Florida, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Iowa, Illinois, Texas, Connecticut, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, Idaho, Oregon, Vermont, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Maine, Alabama, Arkansas, Washington, South Carolina, Nebraska, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Colorado, Missouri, Alaska, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Hawaii, Minnesota, New Jersey, Michigan, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Louisiana, Ohio
This data collection contains election returns at the county and state levels from the mid-nineteenth century to the late twentieth century for primary and general elections on statewide referenda, constitutional amendments, state House/Senate joint resolutions, and initiated measures. The ballot language of each measure is also included. County-level returns for most gubernatorial, senatorial, and congressional primary elections from 1910 to the present are documented as well.
Curated
Voting Scores for Members of the United States Congress, 1945-1982 (ICPSR 7645)
Released/updated on: 2006-01-18
Geographic coverage: United States
Time period: 1945-01-01--1982-01-01
This data collection contains voting scores taken from the CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY ALMANAC, a publication of Congressional Quarterly, Inc. (CQ) for the years 1945 to 1982 (79th-97th Congresses). Part 1 contains voting scores for members of the United States Senate, and Part 2 contains such scores for the members of the United States House of Representatives. In both parts, the unit of analysis is the individual member of Congress. The identification variables in each file include member name, member's state, and member's party. In most instances a set of scores is presented for each member of Congress, for each session of the Congress, and for the Congress as a whole (both sessions). For the 96th and 97th Congresses (1979-1980, 1981-1982) scores for both sessions combined are not provided. The major types of CQ voting scores in the data collection are: (1) "voting participation score," indicating member's attendance (not to be confused with the CQ "on the record" score which shows how often the member has taken a stand on all issues), (2) "partisan voting score," calculated on a subset of the total roll calls that CQ designated as "party unity" roll calls, e.g., roll calls in which a majority of voting Democrats opposed a majority of voting Republicans (with exceptions in the 83rd and 88th Congresses when a "party voting" score was released), (3) "bipartisan voting score," consistently figured by CQ on a subset of the total bipartisan roll calls, i.e., those in which a majority of Democrats and a majority of Republicans voted the same way (until 1978 when the score was no longer reported), (4)"conservative coalition score," based on a subset of roll calls in which a majority of voting Southern Democrats and a majority of voting Republicans opposed the position of a majority of voting Northern Democrats, (5) "presidential issues score," which rates members on those roll calls dealing with issues on which the president has clearly and previously stated a personal position (from 1955 to 1970, this score was further subdivided into support scores for foreign and for domestic policies of the president), (6) "federal role score," which gauges the Congressperson's support and opposition of moves for a larger or smaller federal role (in earlier Congresses, CQ used a similar process to figure "economy support," opposition scores that were designed to represent a member's position on moves to limit or increase federal spending), and (7) a set of interest group scores taken from the CQ WEEKLY REPORTS and added to the two data files (for the years 1960 to 1982) that score each Congressperson's support of interest groups, i.e., Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), the Americans for Constitutional Action (ACA), the Committee on Political Education (COPE), and the National Farmers Union (NFU). Interest group ratings are included only for each session, not for the entire Congresses. (Beginning with the 1978 session, NFU rating scores were no longer included.)
Curated
Washington Post 'What Clinton Should Do' Poll, December 1998 (ICPSR 2711)
Released/updated on: 1999-06-23
Geographic coverage: United States
This special topic poll, fielded December 15, 1998, sought respondents' views on the upcoming full House of Representatives' vote on whether to impeach President Bill Clinton. Respondents were asked whether they felt that Clinton should resign or remain in office and face a trial in the Senate if he were to be impeached, and which action would be best for the country. In addition, respondents were asked whether their choice was based on a desire to end the matter quickly, or based on their opinion of Clinton's actions with regard to his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Background information on respondents includes age, race, sex, education, and political party.