107th Senate Rank Ordering

Below is the rank ordering of the 107th Senate. This ordering was produced by the Optimal Classification (OC) algorithm described in:

"Non-Parametric Unfolding of Binary Choice Data." Political Analysis, 8:211-237, 2000.

The program that performs the rank ordering plus examples can be downloaded from the

OC Scaling Program Page.

To see how it works in one dimension, go to this page:

How Optimal Classification Works in One Dimension

To see how it works in two or more dimensions, go to this page:

How Optimal Classification Works in Two or More Dimensions (Under Construction)

There were 633 roll calls cast in the 107th Senate of which 498 roll calls had at least 0.5% or better in the minority and were used in the scaling. The rank ordering is based upon these 498 roll calls. Note that tied ranks are allowed. (To obtain the roll call data, go to the 107th Senate Roll Call Data Page.)

The overall correct classification is 91.9% with an aggregate proportional reduction in error of (APRE) .748. In the ordering below, the number just to the right of the Senator's name is the classification error and the number to the right of that is the total number of roll calls cast by the Senator. For example, placing Senator Dayton at rank 2 only resulted in 19 classification errors out of a total of 486 votes cast. The proportion correct is 467/486 = .961 (which is shown just to the left of the rank).

In light of the recent controversy over Senator Lott's remarks at Senator Thurmond's 100th birthday party, it is interesting to note that Senator Thurmond's rank is 89, Senator Lott's rank is 91, and Senator Lott's replacement, Senator Frist, is rank 90.

The two parties are almost perfectly separated in the liberal-conservative ordering. Only Senator Miller of Georgia is to the right of the the left-most Republican -- Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island (and Senator Jeffords of Vermont before he switched from Republican to Independent).

 107 49309 25 WISCONS D FEINGOLD      75  498   0.849   1.000
 107 40101 33 MINNESO D DAYTON        19  486   0.961   2.000
 107 40104 12 NEW JER D CORZINE       33  495   0.933   3.000
 107 49101 33 MINNESO D WELLSTONE      6  484   0.988   4.000
 107 15011 71 CALIFOR D BOXER         23  481   0.952   5.000
 107 13039 52 MARYLAN D SARBANES      14  498   0.972   6.500
 107 29142  5 RHODE I D REED          22  497   0.956   6.500
 107 10808  3 MASSACH D KENNEDY, ED   25  480   0.948   8.000
 107 15021 21 ILLINOI D DURBIN        24  496   0.952   9.000
 107 14230 31 IOWA    D HARKIN        29  488   0.941  10.000
 107 14213  1 CONNECT D DODD          25  483   0.948  11.000
 107 14400 82 HAWAII  D AKAKA         24  465   0.948  12.500
 107  1366 56 WEST VI D BYRD, ROBER   79  497   0.841  12.500
 107 14307  6 VERMONT D LEAHY         20  491   0.959  14.000
 107  4812 82 HAWAII  D INOUYE        26  465   0.944  15.000
 107 14709 23 MICHIGA D LEVIN, CARL   25  498   0.950  16.000
 107 15502 36 NORTH D D CONRAD        51  495   0.897  17.000
 107 29732 23 MICHIGA D STABENOW      29  497   0.942  18.000
 107 14440 52 MARYLAN D MIKULSKI      18  494   0.964  19.000
 107 15071 12 NEW JER D TORRICELLI    64  461   0.861  20.500
 107 14858 13 NEW YOR D SCHUMER       42  490   0.914  20.500
 107 40105 13 NEW YOR D CLINTON       30  494   0.939  22.000
 107 11204 48 SOUTH C D HOLLINGS      47  497   0.905  23.000
 107 15054 65 NEVADA  D REID          22  496   0.956  24.500
 107 14922 56 WEST VI D ROCKEFELLER   33  493   0.933  24.500
 107 14101 11 DELAWAR D BIDEN         34  489   0.930  26.000
 107 14920  3 MASSACH D KERRY, JOHN   21  483   0.957  27.000
 107 94240  6 VERMONT I JEFFORDS      41  332   0.877  28.000
 107 49308 73 WASHING D MURRAY        37  493   0.925  29.000
 107 39310 73 WASHING D CANTWELL      34  496   0.931  30.000
 107 14617 37 SOUTH D D DASCHLE       24  481   0.950  31.000
 107 15704  1 CONNECT D LIEBERMAN     32  489   0.935  32.000
 107 14871 72 OREGON  D WYDEN         50  498   0.900  33.000
 107 14812 36 NORTH D D DORGAN        41  493   0.917  34.000
 107 15503 43 FLORIDA D GRAHAM, BOB   41  498   0.918  35.000
 107 14912 66 NEW MEX D BINGAMAN      46  484   0.905  36.000
 107 14651 43 FLORIDA D NELSON, CLA   47  496   0.905  37.000
 107 49902 47 NORTH C D EDWARDS       27  496   0.946  38.000
 107 15703 25 WISCONS D KOHL          34  484   0.930  39.000
 107 40102 34 MISSOUR D CARNAHAN      50  489   0.898  40.000
 107 15425 37 SOUTH D D JOHNSON       41  493   0.917  41.500
 107 49300 71 CALIFOR D FEINSTEIN     46  493   0.907  41.500
 107 49901 22 INDIANA D BAYH          55  497   0.889  43.000
 107 40100 11 DELAWAR D CARPER        58  495   0.883  44.000
 107 49702 45 LOUISIA D LANDRIEU      44  486   0.909  45.000
 107 49701 44 GEORGIA D CLELAND       51  495   0.897  46.000
 107 29305 42 ARKANSA D LINCOLN       33  495   0.933  47.000
 107 14203 64 MONTANA D BAUCUS        41  486   0.916  48.000
 107 13056 45 LOUISIA D BREAUX        48  492   0.902  49.000
 107 40103 35 NEBRASK D NELSON, BEN   42  497   0.915  50.000
 107 49905  5 RHODE I R CHAFEE        82  497   0.835  51.000
 107 14240  6 VERMONT R JEFFORDS      18  143   0.874  52.000
 107 49904 44 GEORGIA D MILLER        68  476   0.857  53.000
 107 14910 14 PENNSYL R SPECTER       78  495   0.842  54.000
 107 14661  2 MAINE   R SNOWE         56  498   0.888  55.000
 107 49703  2 MAINE   R COLLINS       56  498   0.888  56.000
 107 15039 61 ARIZONA R MCCAIN       124  478   0.741  57.000
 107 49705 72 OREGON  R SMITH, GORD   57  493   0.884  58.000
 107 49900 21 ILLINOI R FITZGERALD    80  476   0.832  59.000
 107 14712 40 VIRGINI R WARNER        46  490   0.906  60.000
 107 14009 46 MISSISS R COCHRAN       39  498   0.922  61.000
 107 12109 81 ALASKA  R STEVENS       27  452   0.940  62.000
 107 94659 41 ALABAMA R SHELBY        55  488   0.887  63.500
 107 95407 62 COLORAD R CAMPBELL      47  482   0.902  63.500
 107 49700 41 ALABAMA R SESSIONS      54  481   0.888  65.000
 107 29306 42 ARKANSA R HUTCHINSON,   47  484   0.903  66.000
 107 49306 49 TEXAS   R HUTCHISON,    48  488   0.902  67.000
 107 15020 24 OHIO    R DEWINE        56  498   0.888  68.000
 107 14103 66 NEW MEX R DOMENICI      30  447   0.933  69.000
 107 99910 99 USA     R BUSH           2   63   0.968  70.500
 107 14907 81 ALASKA  R MURKOWSKI     26  459   0.943  70.500
 107 14506 22 INDIANA R LUGAR         46  498   0.908  72.000
 107 15701 64 MONTANA R BURNS         31  482   0.936  73.000
 107 14809 63 IDAHO   R CRAIG         23  492   0.953  74.000
 107 29345 63 IDAHO   R CRAPO         20  476   0.958  75.000
 107 29148 40 VIRGINI R ALLEN         43  495   0.913  76.000
 107 14226 31 IOWA    R GRASSLEY      43  498   0.914  77.000
 107 15501 34 MISSOUR R BOND          34  490   0.931  78.000
 107 14852 32 KANSAS  R ROBERTS       28  491   0.943  79.000
 107 14921 51 KENTUCK R MCCONNELL     22  498   0.956  80.000
 107 49307 67 UTAH    R BENNETT       25  482   0.948  81.000
 107 14503 67 UTAH    R HATCH         26  484   0.946  82.000
 107 49704 35 NEBRASK R HAGEL         36  492   0.927  83.000
 107 49903 24 OHIO    R VOINOVICH     57  486   0.883  84.000
 107 49503 54 TENNESS R THOMPSON      47  487   0.903  85.000
 107 29523 32 KANSAS  R BROWNBACK     39  488   0.920  87.000
 107 15424 53 OKLAHOM R INHOFE        32  483   0.934  87.000
 107 29141 14 PENNSYL R SANTORUM      29  491   0.941  87.000
 107  9369 48 SOUTH C R THURMOND      33  488   0.932  89.000
 107 49502 54 TENNESS R FRIST         20  491   0.959  90.000
 107 14031 46 MISSISS R LOTT          20  488   0.959  91.000
 107 14826  4 NEW HAM R GREGG         52  484   0.893  92.000
 107 15633 68 WYOMING R THOMAS        24  486   0.951  93.000
 107 49706 68 WYOMING R ENZI          38  483   0.921  94.000
 107 29108 62 COLORAD R ALLARD        30  492   0.939  95.000
 107 15406 51 KENTUCK R BUNNING       26  489   0.947  96.000
 107 14105 47 NORTH C R HELMS         17  358   0.953  97.000
 107 29537 65 NEVADA  R ENSIGN        54  479   0.887  98.000
 107 15116  4 NEW HAM R SMITH, ROBE   39  491   0.921  99.000
 107 14908 53 OKLAHOM R NICKLES, DO   30  495   0.939 100.000
 107 14628 49 TEXAS   R GRAMM, PHIL   24  480   0.950 101.000
 107 15429 61 ARIZONA R KYL           25  495   0.949 102.000