New Insights into Legislative Gatekeeping

A novel data set on lobbying positions by private interests in Iowa, Nebraska, and Wisconsin provides a unique opportunity to estimate the status quo ideological locations of bills irrespective of floor consideration. This study leverages this innovative dataset to overcome previous selection bias issues.

Empirical Findings

The research demonstrates evidence of both partisan and nonpartisan gatekeeping mechanisms. Specifically:

• Partisan gatekeeping was corroborated in the Iowa House and Wisconsin Assembly chambers.
• The data cannot definitively distinguish between partisan and nonpartisan explanations for other legislative scenarios.

The findings suggest that strong partisan institutions do not necessarily translate to predominantly partisan gatekeeping behavior, challenging conventional assumptions.