This research is directed at political choice data, primarily roll call votes in legislatures. It focuses on three distinct components of roll call voting. The first component studies the dynamics of mass-elite realignments. It addresses the question of whether changes in congressional voting behavior are stimulated by grass roots activists. The second component focuses on the dynamics of change in individual level roll call voting behavior. It addresses the question of whether legislators fix their ideological positions prior to entering Congress or whether their positions evolve over time. The third component develops new methods for estimating legislator dynamics.
