John Holbein and Dr. Jeremy Pope, Department of Political Science
My ORCA project focused on the strategies and impacts of the Tea Party Movement in the 2010 Congressional Elections. Using data gathered from an analysis of 55 national and local newspapers, this project examined endorsements made by the Tea Party Movement in House of Representatives races during the 2010 election cycle. I performed the data collection, analysis, and write up for this project. I also compiled a research poster that I presented at the prestigious Midwest Political Science Association in Chicago, Illinois. My research was also featured at the Mary Lou Fulton Conference for Undergraduate Research at Brigham Young University.
My research found that endorsements made by actors in the Tea Party Movement were generally associated with higher election results. This effect is particularly pronounced during primary elections, and substantially lowers in the general election. The higher vote totals are not the same when analyzing different sources of endorsements. The results point to an effect that is still dominated by other factors such incumbency.
My project also examined strategies followed by Tea Party actors. It was argued that the strategic pattern followed by endorsers may have been a reason for the success of endorsements in moving election outcomes. This research produced significant results that will be of note for future studies on political endorsements.
In general terms, the results discussed above went mostly along my hypotheses. My theory was that endorsements would not be given or received in a homogenous manner. However, I was reasonably surprised by the level of the impact that an endorsement had on election outcomes.
Most of the challenges that I faced in performing my research were faced during the data gathering stage of the project. I was faced with gathering information that could not reasonably be gathered by a computer program. Thus, I was able to put in hundreds of man-hours in performing the searches and content analysis. During this process, I had to start over my searching several times due to methodological concerns by my mentors and reviewers. However, these setbacks taught me much about data collection and the challenges associated with such tasks.
My research has been compiled into a paper that I hope to publish in the future. I continue to refine the models that describe the strategic considerations of political endorsers. It will be fascinating to see how the Tea Party’s strategy evolves from one election to the next (if it remains relevant). This process will also allow for more advanced statistical methods that can be employed when data is present over multiple years. Depending on future circumstances, I hope to be able to perform such research and continue to build a strategic endorsements model.
The ORCA grant allowed me to perform the research and travel to present it. I was able to learn how to complete high-level research and how to receive feedback on such research. I will continue to use the lessons I have learned as I build a career in researching politics and public policy.