The Dirksen Congressional Center: [Grants] Congressional Research Awards

Congressional Research Awards

Information about the Congressional Research Awards

NOTE: The next deadline for applications is March 1, 2012

The Dirksen Congressional Center invites applications for grants to fund research on congressional leadership and the U.S. Congress. The Center, named for the late Senate Minority Leader Everett M. Dirksen, is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research and educational organization devoted to the study of Congress and its leaders. Since 1978, the Congressional Research Awards (formerly the Congressional Research Grants) program has invested more than $840,000 to support over 400 projects. Applications are accepted at any time, but the deadline is March 1 for the annual selections, which are announced in April. A total of up to $35,000 will be available in 2012.

Who is qualified to apply?

The competition is open to individuals with a serious interest in studying Congress. Political scientists, historians, biographers, scholars of public administration or American studies, and journalists are among those eligible. The Center encourages graduate students who have successfully defended their dissertation prospectus to apply and awards a significant portion of the funds for dissertation research. Applicants must be U.S. citizens who reside in the United States.

The awards program does not fund undergraduate or pre-Ph.D. study. Organizations are not eligible. Research teams of two or more individuals are eligible. No institutional overhead or indirect costs may be claimed against a Congressional Research Award.

What kind of research projects are eligible for consideration?

The Center’s first interest is to fund the study of the leadership in the Congress, both House and Senate. Topics could include external factors shaping the exercise of congressional leadership, institutional conditions affecting it, resources and techniques used by leaders, or the prospects for change or continuity in the patterns of leadership. In addition, The Center invites proposals about congressional procedures, such as committee operation or mechanisms for institutional change, and Congress and the electoral process.

The Center also encourages proposals that link Congress and congressional leadership with the creation, implementation, and oversight of public policy. Proposals must demonstrate that Congress, not the specific policy, is the central research interest.

The Center does NOT require grant recipients to use historical materials in its collections. For persons interested in such research, however, please visit http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_collections_overview.htm for information about our holdings.

The research for which assistance is sought must be original, culminating in new findings or new interpretation, or both. The awards program was developed to support work intended for publication in some form or for application in a teaching or policy-making setting. Research produced by previous grant recipients has resulted in books, papers, articles, course lectures, videotapes, and computer software.

What could a Congressional Research Award pay for?

Generally speaking, an award can cover almost any aspect of a qualified research project, such as travel to conduct research, duplication of research material, purchase of data sets, and costs of clerical, secretarial, research, or transcription assistance. This list is merely illustrative. Specifically excluded from funding are the purchase of equipment, tuition support, salary support for the principal investigator(s), indirect costs or institutional overhead, travel to professional meetings, and publication subsidies.

Awards range from a few hundred dollars to $3,500. Stipends will be awarded to individuals (not organizations) on a competitive basis. Grants will normally extend for one year. In some circumstances, the Center will make more than one award to a single individual in consecutive years, but not more than three awards to the same person in a five-year period.
The Internal Revenue Service requires The Center to report disbursements of more than $600 to individuals. Accordingly, we file a 1099-MISC reporting grant payments. If potential recipients prefer to have payments made to a university foundation on their behalf, they must submit with their proposal a letter from the responsible official stipulating that no indirect or overhead costs will be charged against the grant. In other words, the entire amount must be paid out to the individual.

How do I apply?

Download the Word document -- Congressional Research Award Application -- and complete the required entries. You may send the application as a Word or pdf attachment to an e-mail directed to Frank Mackaman at fmackaman@dirksencenter.org. Please insert the following in the Subject Line: “CRA Application [insert your surname].” Thank you.

The Congressional Research Award Application contains the following elements:

Applicant Information.
Congressional Research Award Project Description. A description of the project's goals, methods, and intended results demonstrating clearly its importance to the awards program priorities. This is the most essential element of the application. Be sure to explain the project's significance and relationship to existing scholarship. Recommended length: five pages.
Budget. Indicate how funds will be spent and the extent of matching funds available, if any. Recommended length: one-half page.
Curriculum Vita. The vita or resume should not exceed two pages.
Reference Letter. Graduate students (those who have successfully defended their dissertation proposal) must arrange for a letter of reference from the person directing their dissertation work. The letter should be sent on institutional letterhead as a signed pdf attachment to Frank Mackaman at fmackaman@dirksencenter.org. Length not to exceed one page.
Overhead Waiver Letter. If potential recipients prefer to have payments made to an institutional entity on their behalf, they must submit with their proposal a letter from the responsible official stipulating that no indirect or overhead costs will be charged against the grant. In other words, the entire amount must be paid out to the individual. The Overhead Waiver Letter should be sent on institutional letterhead as a signed pdf attachment to Frank Mackaman at fmackaman@dirksencenter.org.

IMPORTANT: The entire application when printed must NOT exceed ten pages. This total does NOT include the reference letter (one additional page) or the Overhead Waiver Letter (one additional page).

When is the deadline?

All application materials must be received on or before March 1, 2012. Awards will be announced in April 2012.

How are recipients selected?

Proposals are judged by the significance of the research project; the project's design, plan of work, and dissemination; the applicant's qualifications; the relationship of the project to The Center's program goals and to current work in the field; and, the appropriateness of the budget request for the project's requirements.

Grant recipients agree to...

Acknowledge the support given by The Dirksen Congressional Center wherever material is published or presented.
IMPORTANT. Provide an “Impact Statement” after one year describing how the grant was spent and evaluating the impact of the research project. This 350-500 word statement will be posted on The Center's Web site.
Furnish The Center with a copy of any book, article, or other publication incorporating research made possible by the grant.
Cooperate in periodic studies conducted by The Center to evaluate the grants program. This may include writing summaries of research findings for use in other Center publications.
Permit publication of the research abstract in print and electronic formats.

Questions?

Call, write, or e-mail
Frank H. Mackaman
The Dirksen Congressional Center
2815 Broadway
Pekin, IL 61554-4219 USA
(309) 347-7113 (309) 347-7113
(309) 347-6432 FAX
fmackaman@dirksencenter.org

Grant Recipients, 2011

*PhD Candidate

*Charles Campisano, Department of Political Science, Ohio State University
Senatorial Opposition to Lower Federal Court Nominees and the Blue Slip
$3,425

This project investigates what factors make it more likely that a home-state senator will oppose the nomination put forth by the president and whether changing Judiciary Committee treatment of the blue slip affects senators’ decisions on the blue slip. These analyses will be accomplished by cataloging all blue slips in the National Archives from the 1910s to 1960.

Jennifer Clark, Department of Political Science, University of Houston
The Difference Women Make: How Gender Shapes Agenda-Setting and Policy Success in the Contemporary Congress
$3,250

This research proposes a new way of examining the influence of women legislators through systematic analysis of the collaborative relationships undertaken by legislators at the agenda-setting and coalition-building stages of the legislative process. The project relies on social network analysis of cosponsorship data and roll call voting analysis during the 105th-111th U.S. House.

Paul M. Collins and Lori Ringhand, Department of Political Science, University of North Texas
May It Please the Senate: Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings and Constitutional Change
$3,477

The Senate Judiciary Committee hearings of Supreme Court nominees have been the subject of extensive criticism. Yet most claims that the hearing system is broken are based on anecdotal accounts. This project develops a database that codes every question asked and answer given at the hearings since 1939. In so doing, the research contributes to the understanding of committee leadership and procedures, constitutional change, the influence of public opinion on committee behavior, and interbranch relations.

Edward J. Downes, College of Communication, Boston University
Press Secretary: The Story of Capitol Hill’s Image Makers
$3,435

Publication supported by this grant will, for the first time, tell the story of press secretaries serving Members of Congress. It will examine the nature of political communication in the congressional setting, tell reads how messages are formulated and delivered, and explain how stories from Capitol Hill are invented and reported to the public by media ranging from newspapers to blogs.

C. Lawrence Evans, Department of Government, College of William and Mary
Archival Research on the House Republican Whip Process, 1960s-1990s
$1,050

The purpose of this project is to conduct exploratory archival research in the papers of former House Republican Leader Robert H. Michel, as well as certain of his key aides. The research is part of a book project entitled The Whip Systems of Congress, which explores the historical development, internal operations, and legislative impact of party whips in the House and Senate, 1955-2002.

*Ashley E. Jochim, Department of Political Science, University of Washington
Responsive Policymaking and Partisan Political Conflict
$3,453

This dissertation theorizes about and tests hypotheses concerning the effects of partisan conflict on policy responsiveness. Based on an information-processing theory of policymaking, Jochim argues that partisan conflict shapes the interpretation of policy demands and increases the costs of policy action resulting in lower policy responsiveness as partisanship increases. The research deals with nineteen issues areas over the post World War II period.

*Chera LaForge, Department of Political Science, University of Illinois
On to Bigger or Better Things: The Behavioral Implications of Ambition in the House of Representatives
$1,600

This project explores how progressive and intrainstitutional ambition affects the behavior of U.S. House members. Drawing upon a wide range of legislative behaviors, LaForge examines whether ambitious legislators increase their levels of activity, modify the content of their agendas, spend more time and effort fundraising, and form new coalitions in the chamber.

*Tamara Mann, Department of Political Science, Columbia University
Congressional Leadership in Old Age Policy, 1950-1961
$1,292

This project explores how old age came to be defined as a social problem worthy of federal attention in the 1950s and how that federal attention came to advance a medical definition of care. While grassroots activism and foundation support brought the problems of aged Americans to local and federal government officials, it was leaders in Congress who pushed the federal government to take care of the nation’s elders.

Timothy P. Nokken, Department of Political Science, Texas Tech University
Multiple Referrals and the Legislative Process in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1975-2010
$2,500

Nokken will investigate how the use of multiple referrals in the House affects two aspects of the legislative process, 1975-2010. First, the analysis of final passage roll-call votes will determine how multiple referrals influenced legislative outcomes—do multiple referrals generate more partisan or more moderate outcomes? Second, how does the use of different combinations, or networks, of committees influence the likelihood bills reach the floor?

*Margaret Peters, Department of Political Science, Stanford University
Firm Mobility, Firm Lobbying, and Congressional Support for Immigration
$1,900

What explains changing congressional support for immigration? Peters argues that congressional support for modifications in immigration is due to changes in business support for immigration. Business positions change as companies move production overseas. Firms that once lobbied for immigration now move their firms overseas rather than fight anti-immigration groups.

*Ruth Bloch Rubin, Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley
The Strategic and Electoral Logics of Congressional Sub-Party Coalitions
$3,500

What accounts for the ability of some party members to challenge their leaders for control of policy outcomes in Congress, but not others? Key to understanding the power individual members of Congress wield within their own party’s coalition is to consider the degree to which those legislators are represented by a formal sub-party organization with procedures, powers, and resources akin to those of their official leadership. This project explores the origins and electoral significance of such groups and identifies the collective action dynamics underlying their development.

Michael Wagner, Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, and Dona-Gene Mitchell, Department of Political Science, University of Nebraska
Vilifying Rhetoric and Congressional Behavior
$3,500

Partisan politicians use, with seeming increasing regularity over time, a rhetoric of political vilification that depicts the opposition as the enemy, an enemy that is evil and a threat to the United States and to its people. This project will combine a content analysis of congressional floor speeches and one-minute speeches with a variety of measures of governance including partisan voting scores, bi-partisan bill co-sponsorships, holds, and filibusters to reveal the effects of vilification on congressional behavior.