Constructing legislative networks in R using incidentally and backbone

Abstract Political network data can often be challenging to collect and clean for analysis. This article demonstrates how the incidentally backbone packages R used together construct networks among legislators in US Congress. These customized focus on a specific chamber (Senate or House of Representatives), session (2003 present), legislation type (bills resolutions), policy area (32 topics). Four detailed examples with replicable code are presented illustrate types insights that obtained using these tools.