Looking to maximize lobbying dollars and time? You’ve probably questioned spending valuable resources during a presidential election. We ran the numbers: Congress accomplishes more during presidential elections compared to midterms.
CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO
It is widely understood that off years are the most productive on Capitol Hill, and our quantitative data has backed that up. However, our analysis highlighted an interesting trend: Congress is more productive in presidential election years than midterm election years.
We asked the question: “What effect does a presidential election have on Congressional productivity?”
Conventional thinking holds that Congress is less productive during presidential election cycles, rooted in the notions that:
- Election years are generally less productive
- Presidential politics are a distraction
- Neither party is invested in getting anything accomplished
- Neither party wants to take policy positions that may contradict their standard-bearers’
This conventional thinking holds true, with the exception that presidential election years in Congress are actually more productive than midterm election years.
While modest, the average gains put to rest the idea that Congress slows down while the nation determines the next leader of the free world.
The 112th Congress saw a staggering 4,647 bills introduced, the largest of our data set, which is 900 bills greater than 109th Congress, the next highest session.
Since 2008, Congress has seen a spike in bills introduced during election years. Out of the last four Congresses, the most productive were seen in the 2008 and 2012.
