Linear Algebra and Legislative Voting Behavior: Rice's Indices

Legislative voting behavior has been extensively researched by behavioral scientists using a variety of quantitative indices and mathematical techniques. Some of these indices and techniques have been used for decades, but their essentially mathematical properties have been subjects of debate or have not been thoroughly explored. Stuart Rice's index of cohesion and index of likeness, for example, have been used continuously since the 1920s but have rarely been investigated from a mathematical point of view.