American Politicians Were More Likely To Vote For War If They Didn’t Have Draft Age Sons

October 17, 2017 in Daily Bulletin

Zaid Jilani covered a study on voting patterns in Congress:

  • The United States employed a draft in four conflicts: World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam war.
  • A study found that if members of Congress had draft-age sons they were up to 17% less likely to vote as “hawks” – those more willing to risk war.
  • Legislators that only had daughters of a similar age were more likely to be hawkish.
  • The observed relationship was robust – as strong as 70% of the “party line” effect – where legislators are more likely to vote for a policy if it comes from a President from their own party.
  • There are benefits to suing for peace – legislators that had draft-age sons were more likely to get re-elected.

Read more on The Intercept.