Strategic States: The Congressional Roots of Federal Grant Applications

While a large body of research explores the federal-level influences over distributive politics decisions, very little attention has been given to the active role state and local governments play in the geographic distribution of federal funds. Before presidents, legislators, and agency leaders can influence the selection of federal grants, state and local governments must expend time and resources to submit grant proposals. We focus on grant applications as our unit of analysis and advance a theory that congressional representation influences the grant application behavior of state and local governments. We analyze US Department of Transportation grant applications and awards from 2009 to 2022 and find evidence that congressional representation meaningfully influences state-level grant application behavior. States apply more aggressively for federal transportation grants when represented by senators in the Senate majority party, and states apply more efficiently for grants when represented by a senator holding an advantageous committee leadership post.

尽管已有大量既有研究探讨了联邦层面因素对分配政治决策的影响，但针对州与地方政府在联邦资金地理分配过程中所扮演的主动角色，相关研究却寥寥无几。在总统、议员与政府机构负责人得以影响联邦拨款的遴选之前，州与地方政府必须先投入时间与资源提交拨款申请。本研究以拨款申请作为分析单元，提出一项理论，认为国会代表情况会影响州与地方政府的拨款申请行为。我们分析了2009年至2022年美国交通部（U.S. Department of Transportation）的拨款申请与获批数据，发现有证据表明，国会代表情况会对州层面的拨款申请行为产生显著影响：当某州的参议员隶属于参议院多数党时，该州会更积极地申请联邦交通拨款；而当该州的参议员担任具有优势的委员会领导职务时，该州的拨款申请效率会更高。