ABSTRACT
Understanding the links-or lack of links-between the public’s preferences and government policy is one of the central motivators for many of us who study American politics. Aside from constituency opinion, we know many of the factors that influence what lawmakers think and do. Broad ideological positions offer guidelines, political parties supply information and structure, and other political actors like interest groups try to persuade. But as political scientists, we tend to forget that legislators are people, too-with values, interests, and habits that are shaped by their experiences from life outside of politics, and that are unlikely to be cast aside once in office.
