The three individuals above -- John W. Taylor, Philip P. Barbour, and Martin Van Buren -- are chief players in two papers that I've written with Charles Stewart III on the origins of the standing committee system in the U.S. House.
Order from Chaos: The Transformation of the Committee System in the House, 1816-1822
A recent paper that I've written with Michael Cobb examines whether black members of Congress during the Reconstruction era were more representative of blacks' interests than were white members of Congress. The picture above shows seven black Congressmen from the Reconstruction era: (from left to right) Senator Hiram R. Revels, Mississippi; Rep. Joseph H. Rainey, South Carolina; Rep. Benjamin S. Turner, Alabama; Rep. Robert C. DeLarge, South Carolina; Rep. Josiah T. Walls, Florida; Rep. Jefferson F. Long, Georgia; and Rep. Robert Brown Elliott, South Carolina.
Race
and the Representation of Blacks' Interests During Reconstruction
(Published in Political
Research Quarterly, March 2001).
Nathaniel P. Banks (above, left), Speaker of the 34th U.S. House, plays a starring role in a paper that I've written with Timothy Nokken, which investigates how a rag-tag group of anti-slavery advocates took control of the U.S. House and, once in power, became the Republican Party. The illustration (above, right) documents the announcement of Banks' victory in the Speakership race (on the 133rd ballot), as depicted by Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, February 16, 1856.
The
Institutional Origins of the Republican Party: A Spatial Voting Analysis
of the House Speakership Election of 1855-56
(Published in Legislative
Studies Quarterly, February 2000).
What do Charles Sumner (above, left) and the College of William and Mary (above, right) have in common? They both play important roles in a paper that I've written with Mike Munger on "killer" amendments.
Investigating
the Incidence of Killer Amendments in Congress
Forthcoming in Journal
of Politics.
Much of my recent work has been on Confederate political institutions. Above are three prominent members of the Confederacy: Alexander H. Stephens, Robert Toombs, and Jefferson Davis.
Examining
the Bonding Effects of Party: A Comparative Analysis of Roll-Call Voting
in the U.S. and Confederate Houses
(Published in American
Journal of Political Science, October 1999).
Why
No Parties?: Investigating the Disappearance of Democrat-Whig Divisions
in the Confederacy
(Published in Studies
in American Political Development, Fall 1999).
Examining
the Robustness of Ideological Voting: Evidence from the Confederate House
of Representatives
(Published in American
Journal of Political Science, October 2000).