Dataverse
This public resource provides information on more than 400,000 bills introduced in the U.S. Congress (currently covering the years 1947-2008), along with extensive information about each bill's progress and sponsor. It is used by researchers to study legislative institutions and behavior; by policy experts to study issue attention in Congress; and even by citizens studying their family histories. These data have been used for several research projects, particularly the book, Congress and the Politics of Problem Solving. The data set is associated with the Policy Agendas Project, using the same topic classifications.
(Made possible through the support of the National Science Foundation, grants no. 00880066 and 0111443.)
Congressional District Data Set
This data set includes a wide range of economic, social and geographic information for every U.S. congressional district, from 1943-1998. The variables range from very basic information about each congressional district, such as their size (in square miles), population, and number of persons unemployed to much more specialized information like the number of beds in VA hospitals or whether or not the district is coastal. These data are used by scholars in many fields to study the composition of congressional districts over time and changing congressional representation. These data were the basis for research in the book, Why Congressional Reforms Fail: Reelection and the House Committee System.
(Made possible through the support of the National Science Foundation, grant no. 9409451.)
This data set encompasses all 17,663 public laws enacted by Congress between 1945-94, coded into four categories of legislative significance. We use the reporting from three corps of elite observers to distinguish legislation ranging from insignificant to extraordinary: the Capitol Hill reporters of the Washington Post, The New York Times, and the writers and editors of the Congressional Quarterly Almanac. We focus exclusively on mentions of public laws, excluding constitutional amendments, resolutions, treaties, nominations, etc. The data were the basis of our article, “Divided Government and the Legislative Productivity of Congress, 1945-1994.” (with William Howell, Charles Cameron, and Charles Riemann) 2000. Legislative Studies Quarterly 25: 285-312. The data are posted at the website of Charles Cameron, at Princeton University.
(Made possible in part through the support of the National Science Foundation, grant no. 9223396.)