Changing Minds? Not in Congress!

Remarks Delivered at Princeton University
23 April 2003

Keith T. Poole


  1. Introduction -- Opinions, Passion, and Reason

    1. James Madison

    2. Philip E. Converse and Belief Systems

    3. Thomas Sowell -- Converse Times Two

    4. Eric Hoffer -- For True Believers Passion Trumps Reason

    5. Glaring Across The Fence: The 107th Senate

      1. Kennedy vs. Helms

      2. The Ashcroft Nomination Vote -- 1 February 2001

      3. Bilingual Education -- 10 May 2001

      4. Sugar Program -- 12 December 2001

    6. Not Everything is One Dimensional

      1. The Sugar Program Revisited -- 12 December 2001

      2. The Ashcroft Nomination Vote -- 1 February 2001

      3. The 1964 Civil Rights Act -- 19 June 1964

  2. Un-Changing Minds -- The U.S. Congress 1947 - 2002

    1. Implications and Assumption

      1. Implications For a Spatial Model of Legislative Voting

      2. Assumptions Used in the OC Scaling

    2. Two Dimension Spatial Map of the U.S. Congress -- 1947 to 2002

    3. The U.S. Presidents -- 1955 to 2002

    4. Party Means House (1st Dimension) -- 1947 to 2002

    5. Party Means House (2nd Dimension) -- 1947 to 2002

    6. Party Means Senate (1st Dimension) -- 1947 to 2002

    7. Party Means Senate (2nd Dimension) -- 1947 to 2002

    8. Chamber Means on 1st Dimension -- 1947 to 2002

    9. Table 1: Classification Analysis -- 1947 to 2002

    10. Table 2: Classification Analysis: Members Serving in Both Chambers -- 1947 to 2002

    11. Table 3: Correlation Analysis Between OC and other Scaling Methods -- 1947 to 2002

    12. Table 4: Correlation Analysis -- Omitting Categories of Roll Calls, 83rd to 105th Houses

  3. Animation of the 46th to the 107 (1879 - 2002)th Congresses

  4. House Polarization -- 1879 to 2002

  5. Senate Polarization -- 1879 to 2002

  6. Why are Political/Intellectual Elites Polarized and the Public is Not?

    1. When Polarization Really Mattered