An Empirical Test of Preferences for the Political Pork Barrel: District Level Appropriations for River and Harbor Legislation, 1889-1913

This paper deals with a key proposition: that individuals within well-defined institutions engage in universalistic practices when confronting decisions as to the distribution of the political pork-barrel. To examine such a proposition, district-level data on rivers and harbors appropriations from 1889 through 1913 are examined. This period is particularly interesting because of the structural changes occurring within the House over this relatively short period of time. The concern is with the distributional practices occurring in the House of Representatives over these appropriations. The findings show that oversized coalitions of districts obtained river and harbor projects throughout the period.