A bicameral perspective on legislative retirement: The case of the Senate

fExisting theories of congressional retirement have developed in the context of the House of Representatives and thus do not consider important differences between the Senate and the House. Our empirical analysis of Senate retirement from 1962 to 2000 demonstrates that retirement decisions of Senators are not affected by the same things that affect their House colleagues' decisions; electoral safety and the value of formal institutional positions influence Senators less than House members. Senate retirement decisions are affected by the age of the member and majority-party status. We discuss implications of our results for the Senate's operation and place in the constitutional system.