The Impact of Congressional Representation on Defense Dollar Apportionment Among the States

Abstract

Throughout the history of representative government, elected representatives have faced pressure to direct pooled resources towards the community that empowered them. While the corruption and pork barrel politics of the Gilded Age in the United States has been extensively documented, there is comparatively little scholarship on the role of distributive politics in the late 20th and early 21st century United States. Utilizing government fiscal and defense manpower data, I intend to examine the impact of Congressional representation on defense appropriations across states during fiscal years 1984 to 2010. Looking beyond mere representation, I intend to analyze the impact of committee leadership position capture and seniority on general and selected defense appropriations, while controlling for universal fixed effects such as national economic health and times of war. The ultimate intent is to determine if Congressional representation on armed services and appropriations committees impacts defense dollar apportionment, and if so, its magnitude.