Ideological Polarization and the Appropriations Process

Abstract

This paper examines the increasing polarization surrounding appropriation measures andmembers of the House Appropriation Committee using roll call data. We begin by briefly discussingdevelopments within the committee. We then introduce an approach aimed at measuring polarizationon votes on appropriation measures, Poole and Rosenthal’s NOMINATE algorithm.1 Our resultssuggest that the politics of appropriations, the last vestige of bipartisanship, has collapsed under theweight of ideological polarization.