Date of Award
5-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Political Science
First Advisor
Dr. Dan Palazzolo
Second Advisor
Dr. Tracy Roof
Abstract
In this thesis, I address three critical questions about the Congressional Progressive Caucus. First, which characteristics are associated with whether a House Democrat is more likely to be a member of the Progressive Caucus? Second, are Progressive Caucus members more effective as lawmakers than other House Democrats not part of the caucus? Third, how much influence does the Congressional Progressive Caucus exert influence over their party’s legislative agenda in Congress? The answers to these questions are important because this research helps provide a further understanding of characteristics and influence that party caucus members share in the contemporary Congress. My research finds that, while Progressive Caucus members are more liberal and come from less electorally competitive districts as compared to other House Democrats not affiliated with the PC, the caucus only had mixed influence when it came to enacting three major portions of Joe Biden’s early legislative agenda. To make this argument I draw on both quantitative and qualitative approaches to explain membership characteristics and influence of the caucus. So doing improves our understanding on congressional coalitions by investigating an intra-party caucus of which work of a similar methodological design and breadth has not been completed prior.
Recommended Citation
Paschold, John C., "Left Turn? Progressive Caucus Characteristics & Influence in the 117th Congress" (2025). Honors Theses. 1849.
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/honors-theses/1849
