ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the factors that influenced representatives' votes on the four articles of impeachment brought against William Jefferson Clinton, focusing specifically on the impact of constituency opposition to impeachment, legislator ideology, and partisanship. Disparity between public opinion and legislators' behavior—whether for reasons of partisanship or personal ethics—is rare on issues of the magnitude of impeachment. Scholarship on legislative behavior, particularly roll call voting, indicates that the engine of legislative politics on prominent and contentious issues for which the public has clear and identifiable opinions is constituency preferences. The chapter examines the voting behavior of legislators on the articles of impeachment against President Clinton. It begins by estimating district-level opinion and demonstrating that a majority of legislators—nearly all Democrats and a significant number of Republicans—actually voted their constituents' preferences. The chapter shows that even if one controls for seat safety, seniority, and ideology, district preferences still matter.
