Veterans and Bipartisanship

• DOI: 10.1177/0095327X18806515
• Date: 01 January 2020
• Author: Richard M. Yon,G. Lee Robinson,Joseph Amoroso,Isaiah (Ike) Wilson
• Published date: 01 January 2020
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Veterans and

Bipartisanship

G. Lee Robinson

1

, Joseph Amoroso

2

,

Isaiah (Ike) Wilson III

3

and Richard M. Yon

4

Abstract

Scholars and media outlets that cover the U.S. Congress devote substantial attention

to the rise in partisanship and polarization over the past few decades. The steady

increases in partisanship and polarization coincide with a comparable decline in

veteran representation in Congress. While there are many factors that influence a

congressperson’s behavior, an understudied issue is whether these trends suggest

that veterans are more likely to exhibit bipartisanship than their nonveteran col-

leagues. Using two different measures of bipartisanship, this article draws on data

from 12 different Congresses to examine whether veterans are more likely to be

bipartisan than nonveterans. Utilizing difference in means tests, the results provide

only modest evidence that increasing veteran representation would lead to more

bipartisanship when controlling for generational differences. This article suggests a

research agenda to further assess these findings and discusses the implications of

increasing veteran presence in Congress on civil–military relations.

Keywords

bipartisanship, polarization, civil–military relations, veterans, Congress

1

Department of Public Administration and Policy, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

2

United States Army, Fort Bragg, NC, USA

3

Chicago Project on Security and Threats, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

4

Combating Terrorism Center, West Point, NY, USA

Corresponding Author:

G. Lee Robinson, Department of Public Administration and Policy, The University of Georgia,

204 Baldwin Hall, Athens, GA 30602, USA.

Email: guyton.robinson25@uga.edu

Armed Forces & Society

2020, Vol. 46(1) 132-162

ªThe Author(s) 2018

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/0095327X18806515

journals.sagepub.com/home/afs

Recent research demonstrating that fewer congresspersons reach across the aisle to

cooperate with members of the other party (Andris et al., 2015) is one example

among several studies that document partisan behavior within an increasingly polar-

ized Congress over the past several decades (Poole & Rosenthal, 1997, 2007).

Polarization is frequently faulted as the culprit for the declining functionality of

Congress as evidenced by increased gridlock and a decline in subcommittee meet-

ings (Binder, 2014). While a significant amount of research focuses on the sources of

polarization (Jacobson, 2000; Theriault, 2008; Thomsen, 2014) and its relationship

with partisanship (Aldrich & Rohde, 2001; Layman, Carsey, & Horowitz, 2006),

scholars have few suggestions regarding methods to increase bipartisanship in Con-

gress. The steady rise of partisanship and polarization in Congress coincides with a

decline in the proportion of veterans serving in Congress from over 70%in 1950 to

about 20%today. Is the correlation between the decline in the number of veterans in

Congress and a rise in partisanship and polarization indicative of a greater likelihood

for veterans to be bipartisan? Stated another way, is it plausible that electing more

veterans to Congress would lead to greater bipartisanship and decrease polarization?

This article examines bipartisanship among veterans compared to nonveterans in

recent Congresses to determine whether evidence supports efforts to increase the

percentage of veterans in Congress to help reverse the trends of rising partisanship

and polarization. After presenting some initial evidence of an emerging narrative

that veterans may be less partisan than nonveterans, we first examine the causes of

polarization to determine the potential for increasing veteran representation within

Congress to address this problem. With a firmer grip on the causes of polarization

and its relationship with partisanship, we next employ two different measures of

bipartisanship to determine whether veterans in the 104th through 115th Congresses

displayed more bipartisan behavior tha n their nonveteran colleagues.

1

Based on

these data, we discuss the implications for initiatives to increase the veteran presence

in Congress.

2

We find only modest evidence for increasin g veteran presence to

generate more bipartisan behavior in Congress after controlling for generational

factors. We conclude with a suggested research agenda to explore potential theore-

tical explanations for our results and discuss the implications of our findings for

civil–military relations.

Initial Evidence of Veterans and Bipartisanship

As more veterans who served after 9/11 seek elected office in the U.S. House in the

current election cycle compared to past campaigns, many of these candidates cite

dysfunction in Congress as a source of their motivation to run (Sevastopulo, 2018).

These veterans have the support of Political Action Committees and other groups

that contend increasing veteran representation in Congress can provide a means to

increase bipartisanship (Barcott & Wood, 2017; Mullen & Ackerman, 2018). While

there is little scholarship that examines why veterans would be more bipartisan than

nonveterans, recent evidence from the U.S. House suggests a positive correlation

Robinson et al. 133