Two political science professors and one law professor have posted a preliminary copy of their article “Sore Loser Laws and Congressional Polarization” on the Social Science Research Network. The Network permits anyone to read the article free of charge, using this link. The authors are Barry C. Burden, Bradley Jones, and Michael S. Kang. The article will eventually be published in Legislative Studies Quarterly.
The article documents the increase of polarization in Congress, discusses various theories that explain the increased polarization, and then makes the case that one ignored cause of polarization is that almost all states now have “sore loser” laws. As the study explains, these laws were almost unheard of a century ago. The article has a chart, giving the year each state passed its sore loser law. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.