Party Messaging Participation in the U.S. House of Representatives

Political parties are engaged in a constant struggle to promote their collective reputations—or “brand”—and harm the opposition. To accomplish these goals, congressional parties often engage in messaging strategies to capture media and public attention, but party members do not participate in these party-building events equally. This article examines the variation of individual-level participation in party messaging activities in the U.S. House of Representatives. This process is analyzed using a unique dataset of all one-minute speeches delivered on the floor of the House from 1989 to 2016. We find that legislators are more likely to participate in party messaging if they vote like partisans, are women, have less seniority, and are more moderate and electorally insecure.