Generating a Record: Evaluating the Decision to Record a Vote in the 110th Congress.

In this paper, we propose and test explanations for why parties and members de- cide to put themselves \on record" in the 110th Congress. We argue that this decision is largely the product of three interacting factors. First, as Mayhew (1974) argues, members frequently use the roll call record as a means of position-taking for their up-coming elections by recording votes for important and popular bills. Second, requesting a recorded roll call vote can be part of a broader partisan \branding" strategy. Specifically, members call for recorded roll call votes with the idea of using them against members of the opposing party in the upcoming election (Smith 1989). Finally, we argue that members are less likely to request recorded roll call votes on unimportant measures and on measures considered late in the legislative session in an effort to better promote effciency on the chamberoor. We examine this theory with data on public laws passed during the 110th Congress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]