Events

Joint work with Maria Silfa (The Ohio State University) and Jacob Brown (Boston University).

Abstract: The events of January 6, 2021 exposed congressional staffers to unprecedented security threats and emotional distress, potentially altering their career trajectories, work motivations, and productivity. While much attention has been paid to the political ramifications of the attack, less is known about its impact on the institutional workforce that supports legislative functioning. Using an event study design, we analyze congressional sessions before and after the 117th Congress to assess how this shock affected staff retention, hiring patterns, and human capital composition. Our findings indicate a marked increase in staff turnover following January 6, alongside a decline in the qualifications of incoming hires, as measured by educational attainment and prior Congressional experience. Motivated by a formal model, we explore the downstream consequences of this shift, focusing on legislative capacity, representation, and the revolving door using office communications, policymaking outputs, and staff employment records. These results contribute to broader debates on the resilience of democratic institutions by demonstrating how political unrest can disrupt workforce stability and erode institutional expertise in even the most established legislatures.

The Political Science Seminar Series is convened by Rachel Bernhard and Tarik Abou-Chadi. For more information on this or any of the seminars in the series, please contact politics.secretary@nuffield.ox.ac.uk.