We apply recent advances in machine learning to measure Congressmember personality traits using floor speeches from 1996 to 2014. We also demonstrate the superiority of text-based measurement over survey-based measurement by showing that personality traits are correlated with survey response rates for members of Congress. Finally, we provide one empirical application showcasing the importance of personality on congressional behavior.

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Drawing from the concept of citizenship in the novel, Starship Troopers, we consider public opinion in a world in which ''service guarantees citizenship.'' We do this by examining the political attitudes of US (volunteer) veterans-a group generally neglected in the public opinion literature-relative to the adult population at large. Using data from the 2006 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, we demonstrate that, as a group, veterans tend to be more ideologically conservative and more likely to identify as Republican than their nonveteran counterparts. This finding holds for both individual issues and self-identification.

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