Op-ed: How Pork-Barrel Spending Shapes the Ideological Composition of Congress

AP Photo/Senate TV

In 2011, politicians were banned from using earmarks. Aaron Hedlund, an assistant professor at the University of Missouri, and visiting Senior Fellow at the CGO maintains this policy results in citizens voting more ideologically. Prior to this policy, voters tended to vote for politicians that were more likely to achieve funding for their community and these politicians were more likely to be in the middle of the political ideology scale. Now with earmarking banned, voters’ main concern is ideology.

Read the full piece as it was published by LegBranch.

CGO scholars and fellows frequently comment on a variety of topics for the popular press. The views expressed therein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center for Growth and Opportunity or the views of Utah State University.

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