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The Politics of Prioritization: Senators’ Attention in 140 Characters

  • Annelise Russell EMAIL logo
From the journal The Forum

Abstract

For decades US senators have maximized their limited resources to juggle policy, party politics, and constituents, but the rise of social media sheds new light on how they make these strategic choices. David Mayhew’s seminal study of Congress (1974) argues that lawmakers engage in three types of activities – credit claiming, advertising, and position taking, but equally important is understanding how lawmakers make strategic choices among these activities. Senators’ limited resources and attention forces them to prioritize and make trade-offs among these activities, and new media platforms, like Twitter, offer a window into that decision-making process. This article examines what influences senators’ decisions to publicly communicate these activities on Twitter. By using senators’ daily Twitter activity in 2013 and 2015 as a measure of their individual agenda, I find that senators are most likely to prioritize position-taking activities. Women and committee leaders allocate the most attention to policy positions, but attention to policy may come at a cost. When senators do choose to prioritize policy through position taking, they often make trade-offs that lead to decreased attention to advertising and credit claiming. These activities and the choices among them not only have implications for lawmakers’ behavior in Congress, but also the type of representation and information constituents can expect from their elected leaders.

Appendix

2013 Senators
NameAgeTotal Tweets
Alexander73418
Ayotte451812
Baldwin51992
Barrasso61666
Baucus72150
Begich51188
Bennet49198
Blumenthal67569
Blunt641269
Boozman63328
Boxer73260
Burr58328
Cantwell55520
Cardin701195
Carper67868
Casey53536
Chambliss70309
Coats70681
Coburn65389
Cochran76458
Collins61271
Coons50543
Corker61673
Cornyn622272
Crapo622094
Cruz431826
Donnelly58511
Durbin69667
Enzi70576
Feinstein80365
Fischer62468
Flake51269
Franken62196
Gillibrand471968
Graham581075
Grassley80563
Hagan60706
Harkin7451
Hatch7951
Heinrich42466
Heitkamp581142
Heller531098
Hirono66394
Hoeven56244
Inhofe79905
Isakson79228
Johanns6353
Chiesa4830
Johnson67266
Kaine551177
King69656
Kirk54721
Klobuchar53484
Landrieu58708
Lautenberg89375
Leahy731348
Lee42644
Levin79198
Manchin63999
Markey67596
McCain731562
McCaskill60403
McConnell711999
Menendez591035
Merkley57449
Mikulski771077
MCowan44243
Moran59781
Murkowski56316
Murphy401348
Murray631846
Nelson7174
Paul501057
Portman58758
Pryor50663
Reed64862
Reid74623
Risch70118
Roberts77319
Rockafeller76865
R Johnson58161
Rubio42285
Sanders722121
Schatz41174
Schumer63940
Scott48487
Sessions67230
Shaheen66882
Shelby7923
Stabenow63248
Tester5761
Thune52580
T Udall65470
Toomey52896
Udall63904
Vitter52834
Warner591071
Warren64179
Whitehouse58578
Wicker62429
Wyden64433
2015 Senators
NameAgeTotal Tweets
Alexander74912
Ayotte462223
Baldwin523328
Barrasso62671
Bennett50280
Blumenthal681739
Blunt641352
Booker454428
Boozman64479
Boxer74392
Brown62414
Burr59606
Cantwell56619
Cardin711695
Carper67882
Casey541040
Cassidy57611
Coats711392
Cochran77413
Collins62314
Coons511348
Corker62634
Cornyn623308
Cotton371421
Crapo63288
Cruz44778
Daines521328
Donnelly591086
Durbin702217
Enzi70928
Ernst44584
Feinstein811085
Fischer63924
Flake52363
Franken63231
Gardner401046
Gillibrand482613
Graham59612
Grassley81835
Heinrich43780
Heitkamp592472
Heller541470
Hirono67430
Hoeven57561
Inhofe80404
Isakson701034
J. Tester58990
Kaine561478
King70677
Kirk551375
Klobuchar541281
Lankford46756
Leahy742387
Manchin671060
Markey681809
McCain782510
McCaskill64440
McConnell721784
Menendez61557
Merkley68762
Mike Lee43532
Mikulski78733
M Capito611350
Moran60391
Murkowski571066
Murphy413438
Murray641914
Nelson7236
Paul514071
Perdue651001
Peters561057
Portman591262
Reed65869
Reid75561
Risch7190
R Johnson59895
Roberts781581
Rounds60716
Rubio432382
Sanders732793
Sasse42466
Schatz42331
Schumer642339
Scott491687
Sessions68237
Shaheen67955
Shelby80390
Stabenow64247
Sullivan50686
Thune54851
Tillis54801
Toomey53435
Udall67639
Vitter532203
Warner60639
Warren65416
Whitehouse59949
Wicker63599
Wyden651068
Additional Coding Examples
Position Taking (Position on a vote, a bill, discussion of legislation, policy preferences.)More than half of Americans “baffled” by #ObamaCare impacts. That’s why I support efforts to defund this #TrainWreck. http://t.co/eqK28Mg1Hy



I have repeatedly made it clear I will not vote to raise the debt ceiling unless we address why we are going further in debt

Credit Claiming (Local project involvement, policy with local implications, credit for introducing policy and/or projects)What does #OMDP4NM stand 4?#NMJobs & future gens. Proud to introduce #OrganMountains #publiclands bill today: http://t.co/RhOeYMcM3V



Plateau’s #broadband expansion in #NM critical 4 #smallbiz #jobs-proud 2 be in Moriarty 2 celebrate #ARRA investment http://t.co/kWb6vbbIrs
Advertising (Promoting your political brand through media, press, visits, and talks)RT @Whereruproulx: #Tourism Press Conference with @SenatorShaheen at #WeirsBeach #NH. Int’l visitors spend $4500 per ind. on avg. http://t’_



Had a great time talking w/the barbers at Unique Reflections but told them my loyalty lies w/my barber back in #RVA http://t.co/7AhiSC9Eae

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Published Online: 2018-08-30

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