Understanding when and why Congress repeals laws is as important as looking at how it makes them

Our understanding of how Congress works has been shaped by the laws it enacts. But what about the laws which it repeals? In new research, Jordan M. Ragusa and Nathaniel A. Birkhead develop a comprehensive database of major Congressional repeals over more than 130 years. They find that repeals ‘spike’ when the majority party is united, and after it comes to power after a long time in the minority, such as in 1994’s ‘Republican revolution’.