Reading the Tea Leaves: Understanding Tea Party Caucus Membership in the US House of Representatives

• Published in: PS, political science & politics Vol. 45; no. 2; pp. 245 - 250
• Main Authors: Gervais, Bryan T., Morris, Irwin L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01-04-2012
• Subjects: Caucus; Caucuses; Congressional districts; Conservatism; Constituents; Districts; Elections; Ethnic Diversity; FEATURES; Ideology; Legislative Bodies; Legislative Districts; Legislators; Membership; Political activism; Political behavior; Political candidates; Political parties; Political science; Politicians; Politics of Education; Republican party (United States); Seniority; Standing committees; Taxation; Tea; Unemployment; Unemployment rates; United States; United States House of representatives; United States of America; Urban Areas
• ISSN: 1049-0965; 1537-5935
• DOI: 10.1017/S1049096511002058

In the summer of 2010, 52 Republican members of the US House of Representatives joined the newly formed Tea Party Caucus, bringing the first institutional voice to the Tea Party movement. To understand both the policy orientations of the organized Tea Party (in its caucus manifestation) and the institutional strength of the caucus's membership, we assess the extent to which caucus members are distinctive from their fellow Republicans in the US House of Representatives. Our results suggest that membership in the caucus is primarily driven by ideology and economics. Specifically, we find that Tea Party Caucus members are Republicans who are ideologically oriented toward limited government and lower taxes and who hail from particularly prosperous congressional districts. We find no evidence that Tea Party Caucus members serve safer districts or have greater seniority or institutional stature than their Republican colleagues who are not members of the caucus. These findings, we believe, speak not only to the nature and orientations of the Tea Party Caucus, but to the wider Tea Party movement itself.