111th Senate
Rank Ordering
Jeff Lewis and Keith Poole
27 December 2009
Below is the rank ordering of the 111th Senate. This ordering was
produced by the Optimal Classification (OC)
algorithm described in:
"Non-Parametric Unfolding of Binary Choice Data." Political
Analysis, 8:211-237, 2000.
The scaling program that performs the rank ordering along with some examples
can be downloaded from:
Optimal Classification (OC) Scaling Program Page
To see how OC works in one dimension, go to this page:
How Optimal Classification Works in One Dimension
To see how OC works in two or more dimensions, go to this page:
How Optimal Classification Works in Two or More Dimensions (Under Construction)
There were 397 roll calls cast in the 111th Senate
as of 24 December 2009 of which 373 roll calls had at
least 0.5% or better in the minority
and were used in the scaling. The rank ordering is based upon these 373 roll
calls. Note that tied ranks are allowed.
The overall correct classification is 94.3% with an aggregate proportional reduction in
error of (APRE) .824. In the ordering below,
the number just to the right of the Senator's
name is the classification error and the number to the right of that is the
total number of
roll calls cast by the Senator. For example, placing Senator Durbin at the rank of
3.0 only resulted in 5 classification errors out
of a total of 369 votes cast. The proportion
correct is 364/369 = .986 (which is shown just to the left of the rank).
The two parties are perfectly separated in the liberal-conservative ordering.
(To obtain the latest 111th Senate Roll Call Matrix go to
Jeff Lewis' Webserver. To obtain a Stata 7
version of the Roll Call Matrix go to the Data Download Page
on this Server. )
(Two dimensional spatial maps of
the last 50 Senate Roll calls are displayed here and
the last 50 House Roll calls are
displayed here.)
(Senators Clinton, Obama, and McCain are Compared Here.)
Ideological Rank Orderings of Recent Congresses:
111th House,
110th Senate,
110th House,
109th Senate,
109th House,
108th Senate,
108th House,
107th Senate,
107th House.
For Parametric Measures go to the
Data Download Page.
(The 110th Senate is the most
polarized Senate since the end of Reconstruction.)
(Senator Feingold's seemingly "odd" rank of 57 is discussed here.)
111 29147 6 VERMONT I SANDERS 19 370 0.949 1.000
111 40704 5 RHODE I D WHITEHOUSE 5 362 0.986 2.000
111 15021 21 ILLINOI D DURBIN 5 369 0.986 3.000
111 14230 31 IOWA D HARKIN 7 368 0.981 4.000
111 14920 3 MASSACH D KERRY JOHN 4 363 0.989 5.000
111 29389 24 OHIO D BROWN 3 365 0.992 6.000
111 15408 52 MARYLAN D CARDIN 7 373 0.981 7.000
111 14440 52 MARYLAN D MIKULSKI 2 332 0.994 8.500
111 40903 21 ILLINOI D BURRIS 4 363 0.989 8.500
111 14914 12 NEW JER D LAUTENBERG 3 371 0.992 10.500
111 20735 13 NEW YOR D GILLIBRAND 7 353 0.980 10.500
111 49308 73 WASHING D MURRAY 12 365 0.967 14.000
111 39310 73 WASHING D CANTWELL 20 371 0.946 14.000
111 15015 11 DELAWAR D CARPER 27 372 0.927 14.000
111 4812 82 HAWAII D INOUYE 5 370 0.986 14.000
111 14709 23 MICHIGA D LEVIN CARL 9 373 0.976 14.000
111 29373 12 NEW JER D MENENDEZ 8 369 0.978 18.000
111 29142 5 RHODE I D REED 6 368 0.984 18.000
111 14400 82 HAWAII D AKAKA 9 373 0.976 18.000
111 15704 1 CONNECT D LIEBERMAN 30 361 0.917 21.500
111 40901 11 DELAWAR D KAUFMAN 11 367 0.970 21.500
111 14922 56 WEST VI D ROCKEFELLER 8 320 0.975 21.500
111 14213 1 CONNECT D DODD 4 363 0.989 21.500
111 40912 3 MASSACH D KIRK 0 85 1.000 24.000
111 14858 13 NEW YOR D SCHUMER 5 373 0.987 25.000
111 49300 71 CALIFOR D FEINSTEIN 13 371 0.965 27.000
111 15011 71 CALIFOR D BOXER 8 370 0.978 27.000
111 29732 23 MICHIGA D STABENOW 12 370 0.968 27.000
111 40904 33 MINNESO D FRANKEN 6 164 0.963 29.000
111 14871 72 OREGON D WYDEN 8 368 0.978 30.000
111 14307 6 VERMONT D LEAHY 11 366 0.970 32.500
111 14912 66 NEW MEX D BINGAMAN 24 373 0.936 32.500
111 40908 72 OREGON D MERKLEY 12 372 0.968 32.500
111 40906 4 NEW HAM D SHAHEEN 15 369 0.959 32.500
111 14651 43 FLORIDA D NELSON 21 371 0.943 35.500
111 15703 25 WISCONS D KOHL 16 373 0.957 35.500
111 29924 66 NEW MEX D UDALL 12 370 0.968 37.500
111 15054 65 NEVADA D REID 12 373 0.968 37.500
111 29906 62 COLORAD D UDALL 21 370 0.943 39.000
111 40909 40 VIRGINI D WARNER 28 372 0.925 40.000
111 40910 62 COLORAD D BENNET 18 363 0.950 42.000
111 40703 14 PENNSYL D CASEY 14 373 0.962 42.000
111 40900 81 ALASKA D BEGICH 14 363 0.961 42.000
111 15425 37 SOUTH D D JOHNSON 10 363 0.972 44.000
111 40907 47 NORTH C D HAGAN 20 369 0.946 45.000
111 1366 56 WEST VI D BYRD ROBER 17 228 0.925 46.000
111 40702 64 MONTANA D TESTER 13 371 0.965 48.000
111 14203 64 MONTANA D BAUCUS 17 370 0.954 48.000
111 49702 45 LOUISIA D LANDRIEU 18 350 0.949 48.000
111 94910 14 PENNSYL D SPECTER 6 190 0.968 50.000
111 40700 33 MINNESO D KLOBUCHAR 29 369 0.921 51.000
111 40301 42 ARKANSA D PRYOR 14 372 0.962 52.500
111 15502 36 NORTH D D CONRAD 25 360 0.931 52.500
111 40706 40 VIRGINI D WEBB 41 372 0.890 54.000
111 14812 36 NORTH D D DORGAN 16 367 0.956 55.000
111 29305 42 ARKANSA D LINCOLN 21 371 0.943 56.000
111 49309 25 WISCONS D FEINGOLD 67 373 0.820 57.000
111 40701 34 MISSOUR D MCCASKILL 66 369 0.821 58.000
111 49901 22 INDIANA D BAYH 61 370 0.835 59.000
111 40103 35 NEBRASK D NELSON BEN 46 373 0.877 60.000
111 14661 2 MAINE R SNOWE 23 373 0.938 61.000
111 49703 2 MAINE R COLLINS 19 373 0.949 62.000
111 14910 14 PENNSYL R SPECTER 10 167 0.940 63.000
111 49903 24 OHIO R VOINOVICH 55 359 0.847 64.000
111 14506 22 INDIANA R LUGAR 55 370 0.851 65.000
111 40300 81 ALASKA R MURKOWSKI 30 365 0.918 66.000
111 15501 34 MISSOUR R BOND 38 356 0.893 67.000
111 40304 54 TENNESS R ALEXANDER 27 368 0.927 68.000
111 14826 4 NEW HAM R GREGG 49 332 0.852 69.000
111 40501 43 FLORIDA R MARTINEZ 37 245 0.849 70.000
111 14009 46 MISSISS R COCHRAN 30 367 0.918 71.000
111 94659 41 ALABAMA R SHELBY 36 373 0.903 72.000
111 49307 67 UTAH R BENNETT 20 361 0.945 73.000
111 14503 67 UTAH R HATCH 37 366 0.899 74.000
111 29534 46 MISSISS R WICKER 26 370 0.930 75.000
111 14852 32 KANSAS R ROBERTS 16 355 0.955 76.000
111 49306 49 TEXAS R HUTCHISON 27 349 0.923 77.000
111 29523 32 KANSAS R BROWNBACK 24 369 0.935 78.000
111 14921 51 KENTUCK R MCCONNELL 23 372 0.938 79.000
111 40902 63 IDAHO R RISCH 16 372 0.957 80.500
111 29345 63 IDAHO R CRAPO 20 371 0.946 80.500
111 40905 35 NEBRASK R JOHANNS 27 347 0.922 82.000
111 29566 48 SOUTH C R GRAHAM 34 363 0.906 83.500
111 14226 31 IOWA R GRASSLEY 32 373 0.914 83.500
111 40305 49 TEXAS R CORNYN 19 364 0.948 85.000
111 29918 45 LOUISIA R VITTER 26 365 0.929 86.000
111 40911 43 FLORIDA R LEMIEUX 9 109 0.917 87.000
111 29754 37 SOUTH D R THUNE 21 373 0.944 88.000
111 49706 68 WYOMING R ENZI 20 367 0.946 90.000
111 40705 54 TENNESS R CORKER 47 368 0.872 90.000
111 40707 68 WYOMING R BARASSO 20 373 0.946 90.000
111 15039 61 ARIZONA R MCCAIN 23 365 0.937 92.000
111 29512 44 GEORGIA R CHAMBLISS 16 362 0.956 93.500
111 29909 44 GEORGIA R ISAKSON 20 365 0.945 93.500
111 29548 47 NORTH C R BURR 21 366 0.943 95.000
111 29537 65 NEVADA R ENSIGN 20 363 0.945 96.000
111 49700 41 ALABAMA R SESSIONS 19 354 0.946 97.000
111 15429 61 ARIZONA R KYL 22 369 0.940 98.000
111 15424 53 OKLAHOM R INHOFE 16 360 0.956 99.000
111 15406 51 KENTUCK R BUNNING 21 344 0.939 100.000
111 29936 48 SOUTH C R DEMINT 12 370 0.968 101.000
111 29555 53 OKLAHOM R COBURN 9 365 0.975 102.000