Working Paper: NBER ID: w11908
Authors: Lee J. Alston; Jeffrey A. Jenkins; Tomas Nonnenmacher
Abstract: We examine the politics of the "Salary Grab" of 1873, legislation that increased congressional salaries retroactively by 50 percent. A group of New England and Midwestern elites opposed the Salary Grab, along with congressional franking and patronage-based civil service appointments, as part of reform effort to reshape "who should govern Congress." Our analyses of congressional voting confirm the existence of this non-party elite coalition. While these elites lost many legislative battles in the short-run, their efforts kept reform on the legislative agenda throughout the late-nineteenth century and ultimately set the stage for the Progressive movement in the early-twentieth century.
Keywords: salary grab; political reform; congressional voting; progressive movement; historical analysis
JEL Codes: D23; D72; D73; N41; N42
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Member characteristics (J54) | Voting behavior (D72) |
| Reform-minded coalition (D71) | Opposition to salary grab (J52) |
| Voting patterns (D72) | Ideological divisions (P39) |
| Characteristics of liberal reformers (N33) | Opposition to salary grab (J52) |
| Voting behavior (D72) | Long-term trajectory of political reform (D72) |