Examining Veterans\u27 Interest Groups: Understanding Success through Interest Group Ratings

While many legislative scholars have consistently concerned themselves with the motivations behind congressional votes, very little has been done to examine the specific motivations behind votes on veterans’ legislation. By using the congressional ratings compiled by veterans’ interest groups as well as a variety of variables that may affect those ratings, this paper seeks to gain a deeper understanding of what factors contribute to the successes of individual veterans’ organizations. It is concluded that, while some constituency characteristics did play a small role in explaining legislative successes, the majority of success is explained by both legislator party affiliation and ideology