Document Type
Article
Abstract
The recent moratorium on earmarks has given rise to a new and largely hidden practice for securing distributive benefits: letter-marking. Letter-marking occurs when members of Congress ask (in writing) the head of an agency to retain or allocate distributive benefits in their districts. While letter-marking is common in Washington, the scholarly literature has ignored this practice. We use a unique dataset of 101 congressional letters relating to FAA funding and empirically assess the degree to which the letter-writer’s characteristics and the letter’s content impact the likelihood of achieving the objectives. In doing so, we offer a nuanced understanding of letter-marking.
Recommended Citation
Mills, Russell W. and Kalaf-Hughes, Nicole
(2026)
"The Evolution of Distributive Benefits: The Rise of Letter-Marking in the United States Congress,"
The Journal of Economics and Politics: Vol. 22:
Iss.
1, Article 3.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59604/1046-2309.1002
Available at:
https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/jep/vol22/iss1/3