The Jeffords Switch

Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party in May 2001 and became an independent. Because he agreed to vote with the Democrats on organizational votes, this gave that party a 51–49 majority in the Senate.
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Using the “Jeffords switch,” Chris Den Hartog and Nathan W. Monroe examine how power is shared and transferred in the Senate, as well as whether Democratic bills became more successful after the switch. They also use the data after the switch, when the Republican Party still held a majority on many Democratic Party-led committees, to examine the power of the committee chairs to influence decisions. While the authors find that the majority party does influence Senate decisions, Den Hartog and Monroe are more interested in exploring the method and limits of the majority party to achieve its goals.
 

“A worthy professional contribution to the literature on the Senate, this book advances the debate on how parties make a difference in the Senate, and Congress more generally, with important new perspectives and empirical findings. Den Hartog and Monroe’s inclusion of case study and elite interview material provide richness and welcome nuance to the analysis.”
—Bruce Oppenheimer, Vanderbilt University
 
“A splendid example of scholars taking advantage of a natural quasi-experiment in a creative way, combining quantitative, qualitative, and case-study materials to weave a nuanced and compelling narrative. I think it will be a visible and well-cited contribution to the literatures on Congress and quasi-experimental design.”
—Walter Stone, University of California, Davis
 
“This creative new book on the Jeffords Switch offers a nuanced examination of the role of majority parties in structuring outcomes in the U.S. Senate, since the authors have a chance to “hold everything else constant” in their analysis within the same Congress.”
—Jamie L. Carson, University of Georgia