The emergence of the personal vote

Some scholars have argued that the increase in incumbency advantage and, thus, the advent of the personal vote were produced by the emergence of representatives during the 1950s who enhanced their electoral prospects by exploiting their ability to provide constituents with a wide array of services, and then parlaying their "help" into votes (Alford and Brady 1993; Cain, Ferejohn, and Fiorina 1987; Fiorina 1977a, 1977b). This study utilizes some uniquely placed, yet previously neglected, data about the views of candidates for Congress in the time period in question. We use data from the Miller-Stokes 1958 representation study to see whether representatives with different styles of representation can be identified in this transition period. Our analysis supports the theory that a new type of representative emerged in the late 1950s and that this new style resulted, at least in 1958, in larger vote margins.