Field:
    American Politics

Dissertation Title:
    The Coalition of Extremes: Ends Against the Middle in the US Congress

Committee:
    Timothy Groseclose (Chair), Kathleen Bawn, Jeffrey Lewis, John Zaller, and Daniel Lowenstein (Law)

Date of Completion:
    July 2007

Contact Information:
    Wesley Hussey
    UCLA Political Science Department
    4289 Bunche Hall
    Los Angeles, California 90095-1472
    Phone: 310-825-4331
    Fax: 310-825-0778

Curriculum Vitae:
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Dissertation Summary:
    My dissertation examines an unusual voting alliance in Congress between liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans. Often referred to as “the ends against the middle," I dub this alignment of strange bedfellows the Coalition of Extremes (or COFEX for short). Some famous examples include the defeat of the 1990 Budget Agreement in the House, and the 1971 Foreign Aid Bill. I begin by developing an empirical measure to locate COFEX votes in the post-WW2 era, and investigate several factors that might increase or decrease the frequency of cofex occurring. Some of these factors include divided government, ideological polarization within and between parties, and presidential ideology. My dissertation also examines several possible explanations for this unusual voting coalition, including multidimensionality and strategic voting. By focusing on cofex votes, I attempt to shed a fresh perspective on Congressional partisanship and ideology, as well as American politics more generally.

Research Interests:
    I am interested in the broad intersection between elections, voting, and political institutions. I am intrigued by the political left and right voting together, and its implications for our understanding of American politics. I would like to continue my work on this subject, but branch out beyond congressional voting, looking at left-right coalitions in state and local politics, maybe even other nations as well. An additional research interest is redistricting, with California’s 2000 redistricting in particular. By passing an incumbent-protection plan for the state's congressional delegation, Democrats in the California State Legislature reduced the chances of their party retaking the House of Representatives before the 2010 redistricting. This became even a bigger obstacle after the successful Republican mid-decade redistricting in Texas. A more aggressive Democratic redistricting in 2000 might have put additional California congressional seats into play, helping congressional Democrats. I would like to examine why California Democrats ultimately chose the safer option, as well as analyze the numerous political consequences of this strategy from both a state and national perspective.

Teaching Interests:
    In political science, a variety of courses: Congress, legislative strategy, introduction to American politics, elections and voting, state and local politics, political parties, public opinion, American foreign policy.

    I am also interested in interdisciplinary teaching. One of my most memorable undergraduate classes was a humanities survey course taught by faculty from Philosophy, English, and History. At UCLA, I have taught a class in UCLA's General Education Cluster, where faculty from different departments collectively teach a thematic course with interconnecting, interdisciplinary threads. In a cluster course on the 1960s, I taught a seminar discussing the changing presidential primary process during that period.