Journal Articles

The Social Utility of Informal Institutions: Caucuses as Networks in the 110th U.S. House of Representatives

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This article challenges the existing state-of-knowledge about legislative caucuses by arguing that the caucus system reflects and reinforces formal organizing institutions, such as parties and committees, rather than counterbalancing them. We argue that legislators engage in the caucus system to maximize the social utility of their relationships. Using a social network framework, we develop and test hypotheses that seek to ascertain the types of legislators that assume elevated positions in the caucus network. We collect data on the complete population of caucuses and their members from the first session of the 110th U.S. House of Representatives and conduct social network analyses to find evidence that the caucus system supports the hierarchical structure of existing formal institutions.

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Detail Information

Series Title

American Politics Research

Call Number

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Publisher

: sage publisher., 2009

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

1532673x

Classification

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Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Vol. 37 no. 5 September 2009 pp. 742-766

Subject(s)

Social networks
U.S Congress
Legislative organization
Legislative institutions
The Social Utility of Informal Institutions

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