Vital Statistics on Congress- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
This statistical study is sponsored by the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute. It was first done in 1980 and is regularly updated online. The authors track the changing makeup of Congress through history and across several dimensions, such as region, party, occupation, religion, committee assignments, staff size, and political stances. They document trends in critical areas such as voter turnout, ticket splitting, incumbency and turnover, margin of victory and polarization. The authors, acknowledged experts in campaign finance, provide detailed information on candidate, party, and PAC spending.