Mediocrity and Roll-Calls: The Identification of Marginal Congressmen and Some Study of Their Voting Behavior

Transcription

1 Illinoi Weleyan Univerity Digital IWU Honor Project Political Science Department 1971 Mediocrity and Roll-Call: The Identification of Marginal Congremen and Some Study of Their Voting Behavior Richard K. Wray Illinoi Weleyan Univerity Recommended Citation Wray, Richard K., "Mediocrity and Roll-Call: The Identification of Marginal Congremen and Some Study of Their Voting Behavior" (1971). Honor Project. Paper Thi Article i brought to you for free and open acce by The Ame Library, the Andrew W. Mellon Center for Curricular and Faculty Development, the Office of the Provot and the Office of the Preident. It ha been accepted for incluion in Digital IWU by the faculty at Illinoi Weleyan Univerity. For more information, pleae contact digitalcommon@iwu.edu. Copyright i owned by the author of thi document.

2 Illinoi Weleyan Univ. L1br aa Bloomington, Ill. EDIOCRITY AND ROLL-CALLS: HE IDENTIFICATION OF MARGINAL CONGRESSMEN AND SOME STUDY OF THEIR VOTING BEHAVIOR by Richard K. VVray SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Submitted for Honor VV or k In the Department of Political Science illinoi VVeleyan Univerity Bloomington, Illinoi, 1971

3 Accepted by the Department of Political Science of illinoi Weleyan Univerity in fulfillment of the requirement for departmental honor.

4 to Carol

5 the ti uproar about a of flmediocri, in e on of Judge Clement Haynworth ' Carwell t year, ome of u our attention the accuor addi on to the accued. That bombatic, piou uation of a mant value could arie from the Senate, which i far from being above challenge to it own worth, eemed at leat curiou. It wa a letter to edi of ine 1 which actually deerve the credit for opening thi perpective to me" The Author of the letter challenged the Uouttanding qualitie ' commonly attributed to Senator Birch Bayh (D. Ind ) t becaue he led to pa the ion on hi firt attempt and wa a member of a egregated fraternity during undergraduate day the Univerity of Although thi wa a rather trivial accuation it brought to mind the poibility that there could well be a number of mediocre Senator, more hidden from the public eye than the Senator from Indiana, in everal corner on Capitol Hill. Of coure, the next logical tep wa to conider the degree of mediocrity which could flourih in the relative obcurity of the Houe of Repreentative. With th e aid of ome preliminary reading it became evident that medi among certa ty verge on analyt there exit point a reilr'

6 i eo abence or the area an ion o wa le area treatment of lng and in regard mediocrity. The purpoe paper i bring ome tion to the fact that there are men the United State Houe of Repreentative who very ttle the way of be the more ignificant action by the body. The goal here i not condemn, but imply to quantitatively tate who leat active publicly in the Houe of Repreentative. Thoe men who do t are defined a mediocre Congremen in the area of public Houe activitie. A in the determination of any index of thi nature. there will be element ubjectivity. Sub jectivity arie in variou apect of weighting and evaluating a well a within ource of information. However 9 it i a primary goal in thi paper to rely on objectively factual tatitic wherever they are available. political The pecified Congremen are then claified by and ection. and their voting record compared to e of other of imilar party or ection. The meaurement correlation of record make ue of the legilative analyi of the index of relative ce t coeffi

7 iii face $ i of G $.iii Table., iv Section I, on $ $ 1 Problem or re $ 1 Hypothei.. $.. e $ G 3 Method of reearch e G $ $ 4 Section IIt Body and G 12 S of mediocrity. $ Etabli of Correlation of " 32 Section I ion on Data. 39 Summary of data. 39 Evaluation and concluion on hypothei. 41 Statement of aement. 44 Note 46 Bibliography. 52 Appendix. (ee volume two)

8 I there are ome ome not be paper i the Uni cted be an ively poorly; action However, it hould be noted that a determination of who i mediocre what e on exhow or if thi factor can be dealt with or eliminated. Three major method of reearch are made ue in thi tudy. The tial tep of reearching the ubject wa the development a concept of what it i that contitute mediocrity in a Congreman, and a determination of which factor could be The econd of thee i the creation and application of a quantitative definition of mediocrity; and the third method type ued i a legilative roll-call analy Thi analyi will conider the difference in voting pattern between thoe Congremen quantitatively deemed to be mediocre and the ret of the Houe member, within a party-ectional diviion. A tudy*ha produced data upporting contention that thoe Repreentative who qualified a mediocre, when con a one group t the ret of the t ficant voting or on

9 i one reaon the ue ion i con e t. A the demontrate the fact a amount tudy area of Congreional e c and corruption ha been done. 2 An examination of the cholarly will illu area of c and very little of reearch ha been done on a quantitative bai. However, qualitative i ha been publication in addition the cholarly journal. Several new periodical have featured article relating political tandard and ethic for year. 3 Major ucceful literary work dealing with the topic of corruption, ecret dealing, and variou conflict of interet are led by the work of former newpaper columnit, Drew Pearon, in hi well received book, The Cae Congre. 4 Other book along thi line include that of Walter Goodman, whoe major contribution to the field preceded that of pearon. 5 In all of the above example "honety! i the key factor, a oppoed initiative, piration, and imagination which are the primary concern in thi paper. However, the one quantitative tudy which mot nearly approache the ued in the meauring of mediocrity doe not deal with i R.

10 3 United S f work of S!-'<;;""".n... u. determining to group norm" thee area are 9 it mut ue ome of they are different in their priori tie" A primary difference that Matthew wa qualitie conformity by group of Senator$ qualify a effective variou degree, while thi tudy eek to meaure qualitie of in individual Rep- re, intent imply that thoe who qualify a mediocre are legilatively ineff.ect between thee two factor. What hopefully meaured here i much cloer to effort than to effectivene" The actual area of thi tudy, political mediocrity, ha been only nominally dealt with in peculative or qualitative reearch work. And abolutely no evidence of quantitative work on thi topic ha been found by the author of thi tudy. The tence of politician depairingly called.iparty hacktl ha probably been a ubject of dicuion among voter a long a ophiticated political partie have functioned in the United Statet and eem likely that dicuion in ou area of ociety traced..

11 cu be to attempt to thoe factor contribute a effort to dutie a a Repre i e in ambigiou on or a gre, a well a to determine which Repreentative could be claifi in category. The hypothei connected to the reearch deal the content mediocrity can be defined, and that any Repreentative who how initiative or interet in regard to in the Houe can be claified a mediocre. ( No tation indexed ) Since it i likely that uch an individual would not deire public attention in regard to hi poition on controverial iue of national importance, he hould tend to vote a inconpicuouly a poible on thee iue. Therefore the hypothei for the econd line of reearch i that the mediocre Congreman will tend to vote with the majority of hi party or ectional interet more than the other member on controver iue of national importance. The reaon for ectional addition to party coheion i that there are ditinct fference among voting pattern of the Democratic Party from different ection the country 7 Becaue of the limited amount of previou area i neceary to define operationally what, a i

12 5 on ome j a re car ment caue of an a ma cerrun ceo factor exit a a of lack of ability or incentive to correct hi hortcoming. the other hand a top, alway tick cloely man never mie, and even offer pi up object which he i not For ome reaon the garbage man ha a urplu of and excel.;c, in hi field. Thi doe not mean that garbage man i more intelligent or a greater peron than the doctor. The doctor who demontrate overall mediocre abi ty or inplrat i going to be a poor doctor. However, the garbage man may be mediocre hi abilitie and till do a good job in hi field. There are place in our ociety for mediocre people but thee demontrating a limited incentive or potential do not belong in position of great reponibility. In the Houe of Repreentative a failure to live up to the expected tandard materialize a failure participate actively in the function of the legilative body, parti nationally important iue; or a advancement the hierarchy of body. a cau of una a a

13 6 a or mem- Caue and effect are However, caue of are uof identified a effe, can i of all, in an individual' non-involvement peaking in Houe eion. The importance of thi factor can be elucidated of qualitative evaluation from a the aid cle entitled uhow one Congreman Hang onto Hi Seat by Wooing Home Folk. fl8 Thi article deal with Congremen term fl party hack, 1\1 in thi work. and who appear to be imilar to thoe tudied Thee individual are typified a lacking flinpiration, imagination or initiative, *' eeking to avoid controvery, and working mainly to help contituent with their peronal problem. Finding no caue to dipute thee allegation, it become advantageou to ue them analyze the variou element of caue and effect identified. In regard to peaking on the floor of the Houe, it i a fact that one who lack inpiration or initiative would how the effect in not making the effort to become involved in thi manner. Alo ince peaking i an important part of a Congreman' role, one who peak very rarely i apt to reaching the tandard expected of him. ance i an example of or repreenting mot cae one

14 eion ty o.. addi on to the previouly ie in a mano A lack propoal introduced cate an excepti " The area i t repreented by the pre of commi a re ceived by an 9, The advancement within party and Houe leaderhip poition i alo important. one were rece the advancement due one hi poition and incerity it eem logical that, with the reervation noted, thi factor i indicative of the hi work a a Repreentative. An effect of excelling would be lack of advancement.. The conideration mentioned in the previou paragraph reflect ign of the manifetation of the type of behavior with which we are dealing. Other factor are likely to indicate caue for thi behavior. Thee include a primary caue for a lack of incentive, the abence of ignificant party competition for a Houe eat. If a Congreman know he doe not have to work to maintain hi eat, it naturally tend to create an incentive to not excel " The other caue of phyical or mental ability, a evidenced by advanced age, little formal education, or knowledge of a candal with which a Congreman wa a The fact that age can be detrimental an

15 8 by a newcomer 10 A.. A nominal.. 'LtUU.H of capac e onhip can be etablihed, a on deignate ted potential an ferior fulfillment dutie.. the one factor, a with candal, need little elaboration to explain that the negative apect of thi connection could caue a of erve ctively a a Congreman.. The potentially contributing caue ty and the effect of thoe caue, the ctor indicating failure to excel, have been identified" Fortunately, i to obtain fairly detailed information in all of the above cited categorie, and the information can ea be preented quantitatively.. It i the contention of the author of thi paper that a quantitative indexing of thee criteria in relation to each Congreman i the mot equitable and efficient mean of determining the role played by each individual. Firt of all nine different criteria, of differing degree of importance have been identified.. Any aement of all of thee factor for four thirty -five Congremen without a pecified and conitently ative importance would undoubtedly reult cale of inequi The mot and effective ia i ea one a

16 9 i e hed " i the t table con cae on coni Ue a a ou advantage would accrue factor. a i An operat definition paper deal th wa preented above. It wa a word ply to thi element which i being meaured. A member of Houe of doe advantage opportunitie inept. 11 i aumed could thoe Congremen, who put forth ttle in area which do not contribute pecifically to ga t could bet be claified a mediocre" Mediocrity implie middle tate, or moderate ty u12 according to a dictionary definition.. But recent application term to political figure indicate a definite negative connotation in it uage. It i expected that national leader hould be outtanding, or at leat above average, Therefore when only mediocre work i done by a Congreman, for example, appear in perpective to be relatively inferior. With thi a a bai, the nine were a meaurable for medi o Thee e e

17 on, on t on t S S on ', were had rece a raw core one a to wa aigned core. One wa wa mediocre. The more i the nine area wa weighted a to it ignificance, o on a cale of one through five. The er denoted more ignifi A wa obtained for each terion for each Congreman by multiplying the ranking by it weight. um the product are then the index of mediocrity core for the'individual Repreentative. Bai for the cutoff between thoe who qualify a mediocre and thoe who do not i derived from the '1'"1"""",.",.'1 ou quali ta ti ve work and numerical rating for each the categorie" Diviion of the Repreentative into party-ectional group reulted in three workable categorie. They are Republican Southern Democrat, and Northern Democrat. Other tudie have made imilar diviion including Border Democrat a a fourth category. 13 The reaon thi fourth category be ued in tudy wa that the number of mediocre Congremen from thi category would be o mall no ignifi data could be gathered by analy tate the divi ued here are li Table

18 on ue a, were iue were by on e wa a Then mediocre Congremen, ion, were compared or e ion, on the three party the maj ty vote of their or e of the roll-call analyzed the tatitical method ued were the index of relative coheion, Rice Index of coheiont phi coefficient, and quare. The reaon for the election of thi two-fold methodology i, of all, that a concrete ive definition mediocrity in a Congreman mut be firmly etablihed before one can begin peak of individual voting record. tablihment The ethi definition i the purpoe of the firt proce, index of mediocrity for each Congreman. Once the mediocre Repreentative have been pecified the econd phae of the methodology, the roll-call analy t can be ued. Thi portion of the reearch wa elected to either ubtantiate or refute the hypothei that mediocre Congremen will vote more cloely with the party or ectional category of which member.. reaon the determination of which Congremen were mediocre wa choen to be done on a quantitative bai wat primarily, to remove a many conc ivable biaed judgment a Obviouly there are ome ubj on

19 a et "Tho i ocre in t on on var iou re f t on be tion reaon inavailable on that few a very for judgment been etablihed e, for ty, and thbt thi bai categorization would would be more to libel, quantitative method, been deemed to be more advantageou. W the method ued in thi paper information wa readily lable on of the Repreentative, mot categorie were ctly and without ubjective bia, the criteria for judgment are clear and it i le likely to bring charge of libel. The method choen for tatitical treatment of the elected roll-call are tandard for a ana.ly Rice Index figure will give the percentage of party cohesion for each vote, and the chi quare and phi coefficient will gauge the ignificance of any differentiation in the voting of thoe who qualify a mediocre. Thi will create a tatitical guide to each vote and enhance a comparion of the voting of the mediocre Congremen to the other on iue cauing differing degree of cohe 0 i on

20 concern be we ing of ea i for the ue, and ( le the rating contributing (See Table One) All ing are on a of one The weight of of one criterion can be from one five alo. The higher the number the weight category, the more ignificant that criterion determination of the total ion. The i multiplied by weight determine the product for each category, and the product are totalled to arrive at the total core for one individual.) But before delving into the tati cal ana1y of the data obtained, it i neceary to point out ome pertinent fact applying to thi analyi. Thi paper deal only with the 91t Congre. i imperative that that be kept in mind, becaue thoe who qualify a mediocre in the tudy of thee two eion of the 91t Congre will not necearily qualify a mediocre in the tudy of any other year. One primary example to illutrate thi fact i that although Repreenta ti ve F. Edward Hebert (D.. La.) wa ranked a one of the mot mediocre Congremen in thi tudy, 14 he would quite poibly not qualify a mediocre at in the 92nd gre now in ession. The main reaon thi change i that Congreman H e bert inherited the chairmanhip of the Houe Armed ce Committee when L. Mendel River (D. S.C.) 15

21 CONGRESSMAN _ -- T AB LE ONE -- Sample of heet ued to compile mediocrity core UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - MEDIOCRITY SC ORE STATE DISTRICT PARTY POPULATION HOMETOWN TYPE DISTRICT _ CRITERIA WEIGHT RATING PRODUCT Age factor 4 AtteniiJance at Houe eion 3 Committee evaluation 5 Formal education 1 Introduction of legilation 4 Party competition in ditrict 5 Scandal 5 Speeche on floor 4 Reputation 4 PAGE --- TOTAL SC ORE

22 a con a are not common an not nece It i o important ou ied to the tudy the 91t in work be applicable to a tudy of any other eion of Congre ome cae.. vantage of the ue of a quantitative methodology. Returning the quantitative element mediocrity, the firt of thee to be con i the age the man., According to the onard Z.. Breen16 an uall capability for activity will generally decreae latter 11 l-{""io A doe ta te iderable variation poible from there a conto peron. The gauging of thi factor accept i that a ignifi will be le likely to fulfill man a actively a a more average-aged Repreenta- There i the poibility that the very young Congre- uffer diadvantage in fulfilling hi role effec- ly a a tive. man tively 0.. But thee diadvantage from phyically diabling effect from accrue tive youth. him from It would be more a

23 TAB LE TWO Criteria guideline for mediocrity rating Age factor Party competition , Attendance Scandal abence no lmowledge of any candal 2 allegation of candal 3 ome evidence of candal 4 Ignificant expoure of candal 5 obviou guilt, national attention Formal education Speeche on floor 1 exceptional graduate work 2 ome graduate work 3 college degree 4 ome college 5 no college, Legilation. introduced Reputation bill maj or leader 2 ome leaderhip, ran for high office 3 average or no information 4 moderately negative information 5 very negative information Committee evaluation - (ee Table Four) previouly tated, the main concern of thi paper i to etablih to ocre behavior among thoe who have had opportunitie and have not done o. A of one, itive, wa men 1 0 or more re 17 S are 1 0 man be

24 A can een a wa e age eventy, and a rat were reerved re of eighty and e It wa decided it wa tive would be le affected by age enta for the average peron. There have been many example of exceptional performance in Congre by the mot elderly the Repre wa we a one le than the highet, becaue of the difference exit in the effect that aging zation that on different individual, but that thi can alo be a very ignificant factor in ome cae. Second on the lit of criteria i the regularity of attendance of each Repreentative at Houe eion" The method ued to determine attendance wa to elect a random ample of rty legilative day from the 91t Congre, 18 fifteen from each the firt eion and the econd eion.. The goal of a election by the ue of a table of random number wa to give the mot repreentative cro ection of legilative day. The only criterion ued for election wa that one of the day hould come from each eion to inure a greater ditribution. Other than that the election wa random. Thee ame day were random involved in on rating on

25 or po de on thoe day. The number day. ra are.. with re- ceived rating one or two, greatet Congremen received rating of three, and number, of thoe abent from more meeting. were given.. A rating five wa thoe who mied nearly half or 19 more of the ampled meeting. The attendance factor wa a weight of only three.. Even though it would be extremely difficult to mi of the meeting and be a good Congreman', it i realized that attendance i not one the mot important primary factor involved the contribution any ingle Repreentative make.. Some obervation. which eem upport the cae for a low weight in thi category, were that everal individual th very few abence poke very rarely and alo that a diproportionate number of thoe with top rating in formal education had very poor att en d ance recor - d.. 20 Next in the lit of criteria i the one which wa mot complex to determine, the committee on. Much of the real work in the Houe i done behind the cene in the everal tanding committee. There no imple way meaure contribution any Congreman the committee i

26 TAB LE THREE -- Congremen' view of Houe committee Committee pretige A --highet 1 Appropriation 2 Way and Mean 3 Rule 10 Public Wor k 11 Interior and Inular Affair C --lowet B --middle 4 Foreign Affair 5 Judiciary 6 Armed Service 7 Commerce 8 Science and Atronautic 9 Agriculture 12 Houe Adminitration 13 Government Operation 14 Banking and Currency 15 Merchant Marine' 16 Ditrict of Columbia 17 Internal Security 18 Education and Labor 19 Veteran Affair 20 Pot Office and Civil Service compli and i hopefully relatively The uation ued in thi cae operate on the principle that the contribution by a Repreentative reflected hi committee advancement. From everal ource come the information that different commtttee are conidered to warrant variou degree pretige 21 or differ in their excluive or ive nature. Re,ymond E. Wolfinger and Joan Heifetz have expreed the opinion that thoe Congremen who are mot concerned about fulfilling their role in the Houe tend to eek advancement through the eniority ytem to poition of leaderhip committee or to on mot or exeluive committee. 23 With available on it wa a matter Houe inct are

27 2 TAB LE FOUR -- Scale of guideline for committee evaluation rating Committee evaluation If Congreman elected before ch A 2 ch B 3 ch C, ma 4 mb 5 mc elected ch A, A+ 2 ch B, m A 3 ch C, mbb 4 mb, mbc 5 m C, m CC elected A+ 2 ma, B+ 3 mb, BC 4 C+ 5 C elected ma 2 m B+, m BC + 3 mb, m C, m BC 4 mc 5 none elected ma, m BB 2 mbc 3 mb, m CC 4 mc 5 none key - ch:=chairman; m=member; capital letter = pretige of committee; a + = anything more than memberhip in that level committee. Each category i the minimum requirement for receiving the equivalent rating. would been imple wore com- e appointment the higher the rating acro the.., the effect of the eniority ytem neceitated the ue of a cale to account for differing length of p in the Houe. It i difficult undertand the,t Congreman th one pretige committee appointment and the twenty-five year Houe veteran th a tige committee poition are likely to indi quite different ituation. of The liding for five wa 0

28 a trong wa we at, f Fourth in the on Congreman.. degree 'Ilhe educational background ranged Rhode S and high chool attendance for ome to 25 The ity of Repreentative received rating of three on the table two" Thi factor wa included i aumed that a Repreentative who failed graduate from high could be more likely to potentially mediocre, while an exceptionally well-educated individual would be more likely to achieve excellence. However, tandard of education have changed dramatically over the year panned by the member of Congre, and it i alo difficult to document and etablih any direct correlation of enthuiam or e to education in thee cae. For primarily thee two reaon education wa given the lowet weight poible in thi ytem, a one" Legilation introduced wa f element to be cluded in the t of criteria" It ha previouly been mentioned that the introduction of on wa one three invetigated ue of a am- " c, t j

29 re were con Since nece a area roan were area major reaon wa e wa that the amount repre the creat a t zed the number bill i e a on or.. HOl*Iever, thee t if c, o can to man more iue. Becaue of the element of initiative a being by a for omeone than himelf have been eliminated from the 0, in the frequent cae of there being everal co-ponor for a piece legilation, the member introducing bill received credit for it. The reaon none of the coponor received credit for the ame propoal i, aga the idea of initiative. It i aumed that the peron introducing a piece of legilation wa primarily reponible for it development and progre. Following thee aumption i on.

30 23 an - man zero the ample. Two of cae a t were i u our reaon wa the that there eemed be a a emen introduce bill a group on one day. 2 7 Since a random ampling procedure wa ued be poible that ome individual have been repreented to a certain extent. However, the ize of the random ample, nearly ten percent of all the legilative day, a well a the fact that January 3, 1969, the opening day of the 91t Congre on which a great number of bill were introduced, wa included in the ample are major factor adding to the reliability of the tatitic. The poibility of inaccuracy wa conidered in giving the introduction of legilation category a weight four, keeping in mind it potential a a effective gauge of initiative. In Similar urvey the problem of a random ampling procedure could be avoided by the ue of journal liting all public bill made during a eion of congre. 28 However, at the time of thi final draft, thee j for the full 91t Congre are not available. The next criterion in the lit mediocrity wa that of party compet on member' di ct. t

31 29 H. Score, derived the ue the formula, varied range zero to.8.30 core were di the one to five within the guideline lited Table Two. One note on made factor. cae party ition wa the final ele only. Therefore, ome of men, the South, could have had a greater degree competition in the primary than in the final election, and compet not been However, in almot all caet the mot important race i the final election, and the ignificance of degree confidence given the Repreentative cannot be overlooked. After all, the main neceity for mot politician i to remain in office. If a Congreman ize hi position i contantly in jeopardy, he mut contantly keep on top of thing. However, if a Repreentative i quite ure of hi position there i a much greater incentive to lape into a le active role in important affair. Becaue of the many implication of thi factor, and in pite of the minor poibility of bia, it wa given a weight of five. Seventh in the index i the criterion of candal. Thi factor ha a very limited application within the categorie lited in Table Two and with the information available. A weight of five i given to the candal rating out of repect it potential detructivene roan. reputation and cae

32 5 one wa Spee area wa ame thirty eion. wa t name on The effe wa t it the ame weight to each prepared peech regardle of the number of page tatitic or length the text e or inerted the record. Secondly thi cedure allowed conideration of parti pation in debate. If debate on for everal page Record peaker were given credit the degree their i pation by the ue of thi method. In manner wa given an important place in conideration of peeche from the floor. It doe trate involvement and tiative. No credit wa given for making adjourn, call the roll, or to vote; for requet for committee or ubcommittee to meet while the Houe wa in eion; for adjuting the legilative calendar, (uually the duty of the majority and minority leader); for roll-call or roll-call vote; for announcement; or for peaking from the Chair. The number of pee credited from zero to 119. though it may be difficult to believe, conidering the great quant ie peeche made by ome men, rating wa divided

33 core were ome of. A t it ue ource, a 9 if been a t t of have been a cae ue of in A major ctor would have been lot by ue of the Index wa that participation a, peechet wa ue of the random ampling technique. Ue of the Index would of whole length and more eae computation, two ch worked the advantage of the random ample method. Thi element of Houe peaking rank behind committee, a one of the area active bution by a Repreentative. It i not a baic a the committee progre or home di ct party competition of a Conman in determining hi tendencie toward mediocrity. Involvement in peaking on the floor of the Houe and in debate i not the type of activity which would eem attractive to a candidate for a high rating of mediocrity on the bai defined tudy. For thee reaon a weight of four wa given to thi factor. The area of concern wa that the ion the individual Congreman. e e A

34 7 rece on ing dire ma- wa or jor contribut to the ma tantiated one or ucce or ce were five. )) The weight of wa area caue it i logical that th only a obviou departure from average core on thi point, and th clear reaon for departure, cau are to ficant and hould be reflected in the core. Reconideration of the weighting ued thee nine criteria' would be the only major change neceary to adapt thee factor to a different time hitory. For example, in a time' 'of le innovation in the field of educational norm a greater weight could be given the formal education category. The feaibility of uing any pecific weight depend upon the circumtance relating to the criterion involved. Flexibility of the weighting allow for the available information to be reliably incorporated the concept mediocrity at any iven.. nine characteritic make up a cale mediocrity from which a mathemati model the requirement for, a theoretically mediocre Congreman can be drawn. All nine factor contribute to the definition, and although ome are weighted more heavily than other no one or factor can re

35 28 " con on a an keep " two mot compe are e have weight five, mediocre Congreman to a rat at leat one of thee area. Scandal ha alo weighted at five, but realitically there are o few example thi category, a rating of one can be cipated. A we progre toward a conideration of the weighting four, can be noted that forty wi have been accumulated o far" The reputation factor cloely parallel that of a fair analyi indicate a rating of three, cae, i extremely likely. rather poor howing could eaily rating of four in both the peeche and introduction of leg lation criteria. Quite poibly the Repreentative would be under Sixty, giving him a rating of one in the age category. With the incluion of the four-weighted product the total ha rien to eighty-eight. Anticipated average in the abence category, weighted at three, and the education category, weighted a one, would produce three for both of thoe core bringing the cumulative total to one hundred point. Thee minimum requirement would reult model a mathematically mediocre Congreman being one en a i

36 9 no on ou in a area of in on medi er it can be een, ability, or ch a 0- cre 5mB,n. It hould noted that an average even, well ented here. category the produce a core of e of mathemati model After the conideration of a mathematical model for mediocrity it i poible to examine the etablihment of a real cut-off point. Firt of alit any member of the Houe elected for the firt time in 1964 or more recently wa automatically eliminated from conideration due to the fact thi rating ytem would be rather harh on an unetablihed newcomer. It wa not the pirit of thi tudy to conider the problem of new Congremen, but rather to analyze an inactive and etablihed bae of mediocrity. With thee guideline, forty-five member till qualified with core of 100 or higher. An analyi of Repreentative with core of 98 or 99 determined that them had repectable core outide of product of 25.in party competition, or were jut on the verge of being di time office. Thee conideration 1

37 TAB LE FIVE -- Congremen with high rating Thoe qualifying a mediocre Abbitt 114 Hanen (Wah) 100 Baring 106 Hawkin 115 Barrett 120 Hebert 124 Bell 111 Jarmon 111 Berry 105 Jone (Ala) 113 Bett 102 Landrum 117 Blanton 101 Lennon 104 Burlion (Tex) 110 Moher 102 Cabell 101 Murphy (ill) 103 Clancy 101 Nix 109 Clark 105 O'Konki 107 Corbett 109 Philbin 110 Davi (Ga) 110 Poage 103 Dawon 129 Quie 102 Digg 107 Powell 146 Dowdy 114 Robert 109 Dulki 100 Stafford 103 Fountain 102 Stephen 119 Frelinghuyen 102 Stubblefield 107 Freidel 103 Wilon (B. Cal) 108 Green (Ore) 107 Wylder 102 Mot individual with core 100 or eemed to have univerally poor rating in mot categorie. However, three Congremen of the. forty-five, Repreentative Andrew ), man ( La ), and Wright ( Tex ), good core in peaking on the floor, coupled 25 party competition. All three Southerner alo total core would have been below the cut-off point had 35 i on core 20 or cae competition factor, whi i Repre thee were t

38 TAB LE SIX -- A breakdo' rn of thoe qualifying a mediocre Where the mediocrity come from Southern Democrat 14 Republican 12 Northern Democrat 16> rural medium rural medium urban urban South 14 Eat 11 Mid-Wet 11 Wet 6 of 55 to the 146, 36 i with core the low the et de in the 91t Congre. Thoe their core Table preented in Table S it' quite onthe competit had a defini on the outcome of the core. Thi i evidenced by the one-party ditrict are mot common in rural Southern or exarea, both of which are Democratic tronghold, and eem the primary ource of thoe who qualified. Now it ha been determined that certa Congremen were quantitatively defined a mediocre during the 91t Congre, on mut be directed to another apect of the accumulation of data. Since a roll-call analyi wa ued wi of ion it wa nece. a reaon i

39 TAB LE SEVEN -- Party-ectional claification Thoe tate claified a lfsouthernll Alabama Arkana Florida Georgia Louiiana Miiippi North Car olina South Carolina Tenneee Texa Virginia Democrat in Congre, ion our tion of Republican, Southern Democrat, Northern Democrat, and Border Democrat will be cant S Dem- Thi de tion i pecified Table Seven in which the involved the ditrict i clarified. Fourteen roll-call vote have been e cted analyi; four of them come from the firt eion of the 91t Congre, of them from the econd e.38 All fourteen iue are lited in Table Eight. The reaon there are more from the econd eion i that there wa a greater number of meet ficant iue voted upon toward the cloe of the Congre...39 Ten of the roll-call ued were vote on partyectional iue of 1gni icance. Two, number four and fourteen, were incidental, minor iue and two other vote, numfive and even were iue. e different type vote were ued to give perpective to the i of the coheion of Congremen ou cae.. A iue, a

40 TABLE EIGHT -- Roll-call ued for analyi Amend Labor and HEW Appropriation Amend Federal Employee Pay Increae Recommit Bank Holding Company Act Potato Grower' Expanion Defene Pr ocurement Act A mend Emergency Home Financing Newpaper Preervation Amend Congreional Reform Amend Ma Tranit Foreign Trade A mend Occupational Safety Superonic Tranport Amend Food Stamp Reform Previou Quetion on Conference Report on Food Stamp paper, i an iue (1 ) (2) (3) (4) (6) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) July 31, 1969 October 14, 1969 November 6, 1969 November 12, 1969 May 6, 1970 June July 8, 1970 September 17, 1970 September 29, 1970 November 19, 1970 November 24, 1970 December 8, 1970 December 16, 1970 December 30, 1970 the lije:tjori ty of publican oppoed a majority of Northern Democrat. The method in which roll-call vote were elected wa date on which the Houe voted on the mot cant iue a defined and publihed in the Congreional "Weekly Report. 11 Thee iue were purued the Congreional Record to determine if there wa any party-ectional iue evident in the vote on the bill, an amendment to it, or it recommital. The primary procedure ued to etimate whether a vote wa likely to be a party-ectional iue before actually counting all the vote, wa to determine whether key indidual had oppoed each other. If the Republican, Anderon of, caucu chairman; Arend, whip; Ford, minority leader; Morton, future Cabinet oppoed Democrat Albert, majority leader; Bogg, whip; Ottinger, future Senatorial ; and Rotenkowki, caucu L,L S were the uue wa line.

41 a ion of on i (two by were con a overmediocre Conthe maj by computation coe c chi quare a hown Index, the phi 42 The Rice Index wa ued to meaure overall coheion of the body voting either "yea" or t on of the bill rather than being put to it more common uage meauring intra party coheion. The tatitic from index illutrate that in only two cae, vote number five and ty on rece fewer than one hundred vote. It ha already been mentioned that thee are the two non-partian, one-ided iue. Therefore in almot all of the example ued the overall vote on the iue wa tively cloe. However, to contrat the finding of the Rice Index, the index of relative coheion, which i ued here to meaure overall coheion to party-ectional diviion,,, indicate that there i a trong adherance to line. The only two cae which fewer two-third of the Repreentative follow their party- maj are on number ten twelve. Thee are re the

42 35 TABLE NINE Reult of tatitical evaluation Rice fudex fudex of Relative Coheion O.S-liO Phi Coefficient (range from +1 to -1 through zero) Overall Republican Southern Dem. Northern Dem le more le le m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m

43 Phi - continued Overall Republican Southern Dem. Northern Dem m m m m m m m m m m m m m in Chi Squ are -- (ame categorie) -- one degree of freedom for all table ] Chi quare range from 2% at to 99. 9% at

44 iue a, in cae, a on S S ion e ocre men than w of are more Uyeafl than vote e t a negative phi coefficient mean that there wa more coheion among the mediocre Congremen. Thi hold true for fourteen of the overall tatitic the To help clarify thi point, the word fimore1' or,g ha been added to each tatitic for the phi coefficient Table Nine. In even of the fourteen roll-call the reult illutrated that there wa more coheion to party-ectional line thoe qualifying a:c mediocre. Of the even which a greater amount of coheion wa demontrated by mediocre Congremen, three were iue of little igni cance or nominal partyectional dipute. However, the two mot ignificant overall tatitic are alo included in thoe of more coheion among mediocre Congremen. They are roll-call number three and ten, at and repectively. o interet i the fact that in the party-ectional ub-categorie, twenty-four of the forty-two how a greater degree of coheion among thoe Congremen defined a mediocre. The S Democrat phi coefficient howed more ion among the fourteen ex-

45 38 more ion ocre of the indicated more - men. e may Becaue wa caue greater relative ion ficant degree agreement, i chi quare core are rather ing to mot cae. the It wa be the affecting the vote of the Congremen involved, but ome eight did the overall a greater than fifty percent probability that any difference between the voting of the mediocre and the other Congremen wa caued by omething other than chance. That i lent to a quare greater than Of thee eight vote, five of them demontrated le adherance to the party-ect by the mediocre Congremen, according to the phi coeffic tatitic. However, of the three cae in there wa more coheion by the mediocre Repreentative, two of them produced chi quare which tranlate to mean there i a ninety percent lity alone did not caue the difference. None the '\other five reached even an eighty-five percent ty. ten, a 7.278t and a

46 ence an over cance. Of the e convert to percent, are the Of the cae half howed more cohe by the Congremen according phi coe S G it i that the four example, of thee ix, clearly a conervative and to ch there wa iue 44 mediocre Northern Democrat voted more conervatively the other Northern Democrat. III In ummary of the data preented it i important to add that ome attention mut be given to the appendixe included with thi paper. The data contained them i eential to the undertanding and ubtantiation of the claim made and tatitic produced in the nine table within the body of the text. The cale of mediocrity, preented in thi paper, ha necearily been limited to thoe qualitie tion could be tatitically It i re en are

47 or " meaure. ch a 45 by m on major iue if de termined. a on through attendance on pee on the, tiative through legilative formulation, inpiration through party competition, 4 9 and add an evaluaon of ubject factor affecting re, 50 ha the purpoe of determining which individual in the 91t Con had the greatet tendencie ty. It be poible to improve the accuracy the heavily weighted factor of party competition by an incluion of intr -party competition for Southern ditrict which otherwie have very competition core. A reevaluation of factor with thi increaed area of input could eliminate any need or jutification for the excluion of individual who qualify above the cut-off point for mediocrity. For thee reaon, the verdi on the preent cale mut be concluively that it enable a viable meaurement of mediocrity probabilitie, but it alo i definitely not perfected and could poibly t further analyi. The mathemati contructed of a minimally mediocre Congreman erved a an eential crytalizing the etablihment a cut-off point. Ue of a manner

48 a core be f c of the cut concept i of data wa re a i derived t of the ue of the ce Index, all partian vote were fairly cloe. The index of relative demontrated wa a con intra party agreement in mot iue. Becaue of thi high degree of agreement there wa ttle for mediocrity caue more agreement, and it wa not urpriing to find low quare core in mot cae. However, the reult of the ue pated fact the phi coefficient tet howed the unanti in eight of the fourteen roll-call elected there wa actually le party-e cre Congremen. 53 onal coheion among medio- Progreing from thi ummary of data i poible to evaluate the original hypothei in light of quantification. Mediocrity in the Houe wa defined in term of meaurable teria. Statitical quantification of thee criteria netted core for all Congremen, cal analyi mined that ome Congremen would qualify a mediocre on the bai of the accepted definition. of the hypothei it ha been Therefore, firt are ome in Houe

49 preent almot a perfe example upport an.. It wa a partian three party- group illutrated coniderable unity in voting, three diviion there wa greater coheion to the by thoe qualify a mediocre. But mot impor- hypothe ecti and party tant i the fact that the chi quare for the overall vote indicate that there i a greater than ninety percent probabilty that omething other than chance caued the difference in the vot pa ttern of the mediocre Congre.mall. Although thi doe not exceed the normal ninety-five percent cut-off point for ignificance, it mut be kept in mind that the i ion party-ect trongly. line which are normally adhered to t there i a the be more..

50 e ome wa more i te i Se ocre ei One con on a i tendency, previouly the group i- f iocre a " A caue a Northern to vote aga more often caue member of either of the the ame poition two group oppoe the maj. If thi were t co heion it e be clear to ee how the tendency line could be obcured. follow alo mut be noted that other outide have a bearing on the reult of the or could analyi. Primary among thee i that would be quite poible for ome other motivating factor to overcome the de f the pecified Repreentative to vote with party or ectional leaderhip in order to not be conpicuou. baic than voting with party or ect avoid conflict t a given Congreman could, Rather, more leaderhip, more eaily avoid ct by voting with what he to maj ty on con If on of con- t

51 line the ocre man e ex- e on.. If one were 1 i 54 The conclu be a primary i i made in regard ing party or e cu- e area 55, con the effect of other factor, thi contribute coheion without being an determinate Although analyi doe not determine a direct effect of the exitence of ty in the Houe of Repreentative, it doe ome analy behavior. of the probable effect of mediocrity on voting It i hoped that thi tudy will draw attention to the application of the quetion of mediocrity to other of the Houe or Senate t and give dire ion e dei to co ntinue thi initiation of the contruction of a foundation ty.. additional work with thi concept of poli cal medio- It would definitely have been advantageou aid of have had i i "

52 been i ou c ou numeri. the a i t t ion of c are e - ti i. The of thi be aeed more i mediocrity. It mut be kept ty can be meaured, and i ct the upreme legilative bodie nitely be expected to how enough and to create an ime,ge of moderate enthuiam and repectability. And if they do not fulfill minimum requiremet, attention hould be called that fact and it implication "* "*

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