Continuity and change in congressional campaigns

Perez, Eristeo Jacob

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/110668 Copy

Description

Title

Continuity and change in congressional campaigns

Author(s)

Perez, Eristeo Jacob

Issue Date

2021-04-15

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Sulkin, Tracy

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Sulkin, Tracy

Committee Member(s)

• Mondak, Jeff
• Rudolph, Thomas
• Sin, Gisela

Department of Study

Political Science

Discipline

Political Science

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Campaigns
• congressional campaigns
• elections
• American politics

Abstract

My dissertation builds on the previous scholarship of congressional campaigns with a longitudinal examination of how the tone and content of televised advertisements in congressional campaigns unfold across the careers of members of Congress. In their use of negative, partisan, and policy rhetoric in their ad airings - I find longitudinal patterns of continuity and change which are both motivated by their pursuit of reelection and their limited ability to learn about the effectiveness of their campaign strategies. From my longitudinal analysis, I reveal novel insights about how past experiences contextualize how MCs respond to their present circumstances. Incumbents do not view each election in total isolation from their previous campaigns. Instead, they often view their current race as an extension of their previous race. In turn, a stable electoral environment across successive elections often results in consistent campaign behavior across successive elections. Conversely, a changing electoral environment often begets changes in campaign behavior across consecutive races. Furthermore, the stability of their electoral environment conditions the extent to which MCs are sensitive to their challenger’s campaign rhetoric. MCs in newly competitive races are most sensitive to their challenger’s rhetoric, while MCs in consistently safe races are the least sensitive to their challenger’s campaigns.

Graduation Semester

2021-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/110668

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2021 Eristeo Perez

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