Yet, given their tremendous advantages in fund-raising and name-recognition, and the fact that many sit in districts gerrymandered to make them nearly impossible for the incumbent party to lose, 14% is a remarkably high rate of loss. Indeed, as the graph below shows, this year was, by far, the worst year for incumbents since 1972, blowing away the so-called "revolution" of 1994.
2010Nov12
Throwing the Bums Out?
Despite slogans from the populist movements on the right calling on voters to "throw the bums out," that is to say, to defeat all Congressional incumbents, 86% of the bums who were up for reelection in 2010 actually kept their jobs, as Catherine Rampell points out at the New York Times Economix blog. Taken as a whole, incumbents took 65% of the vote this year, just a bit lower than the 68% that they have averaged since 1972. Rampell seems to take this to mean that 2010 wasn't a bad year for incumbents.
Yet, given their tremendous advantages in fund-raising and name-recognition, and the fact that many sit in districts gerrymandered to make them nearly impossible for the incumbent party to lose, 14% is a remarkably high rate of loss. Indeed, as the graph below shows, this year was, by far, the worst year for incumbents since 1972, blowing away the so-called "revolution" of 1994.
Yet, given their tremendous advantages in fund-raising and name-recognition, and the fact that many sit in districts gerrymandered to make them nearly impossible for the incumbent party to lose, 14% is a remarkably high rate of loss. Indeed, as the graph below shows, this year was, by far, the worst year for incumbents since 1972, blowing away the so-called "revolution" of 1994.
Unknown
About TeachingwithData.org
TeachingWithData.org is a partnership between the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN), both at the University of Michigan. The project is funded by NSF Award 0840642, George Alter (ICPSR), PI and William Frey (SSDAN), co-PI.
Translate
Search This Blog
Popular Posts
-
A study recently featured in the Journal of Comparative Economics examines income inequality in urban China. Capital income increased d...
-
If you’ve hit the point in the semester where your classes have fallen into routines and you’d like to spice things up a bit, this webinar i...
-
A recent post on the Economist’s Graphic Detail blog includes a global map of cigarette smokers in 2010, as reported by the American Cance...
-
According to the Washington Post, since 2009, the unemployment rate in the United States has dropped by 50% . The traditional...
-
The month of March signaled the beginning of National Women’s History Month, as well as the annual Oscar Awards ceremony, which was held on...
No comments :
Post a Comment