1 The Scienti fi c Study of Constituency Representation

During the debate in 2013 over the budget stalemate that led to the closing of much of the federal government, Republican party members of the U.S. House of Representatives proposed numerous ways to repeal Obamacare – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act adopted in 2010. This controversial law is intended to ensure access to health care for all Americans and is a notable extension of the social welfare guarantees of the U.S. federal government. The original law was adopted when the Democratic party controlled both houses of Congress, and it passed in both houses with strong Democratic support and equally strong Republican opposition. After the Republican party gained a majority of seats in the House in 2010, however, numerous bills or amendments were passed in that body to end or restrict Obamacare. All those proposals were adopted on the same kind of party-line vote by which the law was first adopted.