© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Politics in States and Communities (15 Ed.) Thomas Dye, Susan MacManus Edited by Bob Botsch

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Politics in States and Communities(15 Ed.)

Thomas Dye, Susan MacManusThomas Dye, Susan MacManusEdited by Bob Botsch Edited by Bob Botsch

Legislators in State PoliticsLegislators in State Politics

Chapter 6Chapter 6


Learning ObjectivesLearning Objectives• Describe the lawmaking and other functions of state legislatures.• Compare the demographic characteristics of state legislators with those of ordinary citizens,

and assess the extent to which state legislators are professionals or amateurs.• Analyze the extent to which women and racial or ethnic minorities comprise state

legislatures, and trace how these patterns have changed over time. • Explain the prior political experience of state legislators and the process they endured to get

to the state capital, including raising money for their campaigns and navigating the primary and general elections.

• Examine the advantages of incumbency for winning reelection.• Assess how Baker v. Carr affected legislative apportionment, describe the processes used to

draw district lines, and evaluate how this process can be used for political purposes.• Trace the typical lawmaking process in state legislatures, paying specific attention to the

disorderliness of process and areas of frequent logjams.• Describe the institutionalization of state legislatures, and assess how increased

professionalism has impacted legislative processes and outcomes.• Explain the functions and composition of legislative committees.• Examine the roles of legislative leaders and subject matter experts, evaluate the extent to

which legislators act as trustees and delegates, and assess the impact of term limits in those states that have adopted them.

• Analyze the influence of political parties in state legislatures.• Characterize the role of the media in the state legislative process.• Describe lobbying in state legislatures, assess which lobbying techniques are most effective,

and evaluate the extent to which lobbying efforts are effectively regulated.• Determine whether citizens’ critical assessments of state legislatures are well deserved.


Functions of State LegislaturesFunctions of State Legislatures

• Enacting laws: Collectively consider 101,000 per session, pass about 19,000 (95% fatality rate)

• Considering constitutional amendments, gubernatorial appointments, and state courts: Often shared processes

• Approving budgets: May be single most important function• Serving constituents (casework): Requires great deal of legislators’

time• Oversight of state agencies: Frequently need to challenge state

administrators (not in SC though restructuring of BCB places this responsibility on legislature—cyclical review performance of all state agencies—will see ????)


Making of a State LegislatorMaking of a State Legislator

State legislators are typically selected from the upper-middle-class segments of the population

• Status: “Upwardly mobile” sectors• Occupation: Groups with flexible work responsibility or

retired persons; lawyers, business owners, physicians• Education: Most are college educated• Middle Age: Average is 56 years• Personal wealth: Recruited from affluent families• Lawyer advantage: Trained to deal with public policy • Significant # of Amateurs: Most state legislatures are

part-time bodies—provide a lot of entertainment! E.g. SC Sen Tom Corbin and a “lesser cut of meat”


Minorities and Women in State LegislaturesMinorities and Women in State Legislatures

• African American representation: About 9% of all seats—compared to 12% of voting age population

• Hispanic representation: About 3 percent—compared to 14% VAP

• Native American and Asian American representation: About 1 percent each—concentrated geographically

• Women in state legislatures: About 24 percent

• Women in legislative leadership positions: May have more committee chairs than expected—work harder to win respect

• The effect of women: different approach to problems, eg rehabilitation over punishment; favor women’s issues


African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, and African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, and Women in LegislaturesWomen in Legislatures


Women and Minorities in State LegislaturesWomen and Minorities in State Legislatures


Getting to the State CapitolGetting to the State Capitol

• Why run? Idealism, enjoy politics, issue interests, ambition• Political experience: strong parties more experience;

weak parties more amateurs• Raising campaign money: wide variation from amateurish

to expensive• Primaries: incumbents often unopposed, but competitive

when seat open or in state with factional politics (e.g. Tea Party in SC)

• General election: In 2012 nearly 40% uncontested, incumbents have a big advantage (about 75% in SC in 2014)


The Great Incumbency Machine: why they winThe Great Incumbency Machine: why they win

• Visibility: Campaigning for reelection almost constant, may take more time than lawmaking

• Resources of office: Staffs, offices, expense accounts, travel budgets

• Money: Interest group contributions go overwhelmingly to incumbents

• Professionalism and careerism: Professionalism in state legislatures encourages careerism


Legislative Apportionment and DistrictingLegislative Apportionment and Districting

• Supreme Court Intervention: Baker v Carr (1962)• Immediate Impact: rise of urban and suburban areas and values—

younger more educated legislators• Standards of Equality for Districts: courts seek about 3% average

difference with population for legislative districts—lower for congressional

• Districting: Partisan and Incumbent Gerrymandering• The Seats-Votes Relationship: only counts if history of

disproportionality for ethnic representation• Affirmative Racial Gerrymandering: maximize minority rep• Multimember Districts: greatly reduced b/c of Baker v Carr• District Size: vary greatly from nearly 1m to <10k• State legislatures draw lines every 10 years, but some states try to

do it more often when they see partisan advantage


State Legislators Who Became PresidentsState Legislators Who Became Presidents


Legislative Organization and ProcedureLegislative Organization and Procedure

• Procedures have consequences: more difficult and detailed lead to delay and obstruct

• Disorderliness: Logrolling, vote trading, infighting, ignorance, ineptitude

• Workloads: Thousands of bills may be introduced but most never become laws

• Logjams: Typical end-of-session disorder• Sessions: Most are annual; governor may call special

session


Independent Redistricting Commissions: Independent Redistricting Commissions: better info at: better info at: http://

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redistricting_commission


How an Idea Becomes a Law – Bill Originating How an Idea Becomes a Law – Bill Originating in the Florida Senatein the Florida Senate


Legislative InstitutionalizationLegislative Institutionalization

• Professionalism: means full-time with significant salary—varies widely among states

• Effects of professionalization: Larger staff, higher budgets, better odds of reelection

• Professionalism and public policy: Not much evidence of direct effect

• Legislative staffing: Recent movement has been toward professionalism and full-time staffs

• Turnover rates and newcomer challenges: Overall turnover rate about 25 percent if no term limits


The State LegislaturesThe State Legislatures


The State LegislaturesThe State Legislatures (Continued)(Continued)


Professionalism in State LegislaturesProfessionalism in State Legislatures


Legislative CommitteesLegislative Committees

• #: Most chambers will have 20-30 standing committees w/members serving on several

• Personnel: Assignment typically made by leadership, with occupational background a factor

• Committee preferences: Generally reflect preferences of the chamber if party leadership is strong; only 5 percent may be “outliers” likely to defy chamber preferences


Leadership and Role-Playing in LegislaturesLeadership and Role-Playing in Legislatures

• Leadership: Include house speaker, senate president, majority and minority leaders

• Members’ expectation of leaders: Reelection, share some power, help achieve personal goals

• Leaders’ legislative priorities: Recently—areas of education, health care, budgets, taxes

• Expert roles: Subject-matter experts emerge• Trustees, delegates, and politicos: Dilemma of voting

conscience versus constituency’s wishes• Term limits: Now in 15 states• Ethical behavior: Regulates gift-giving, nepotism,

conflicts of interest (sources of income)

Impacts of Term Limits

• Increases power of governor

• Less compromise b/c more amateurs

• Loss in expertise

• Care more about issues

• Increase power of interest groups

• Increase power of bureaucracy

• Increase individual corruption (short term gain)



Legislators’ Sources for Gauging Public Legislators’ Sources for Gauging Public OpinionOpinion


Party Politics in State LegislaturesParty Politics in State Legislatures

• More straight party line votes in two-party competitive states

• Strict party lines is the norm for voting on legislative leadership posts

• Greatest party cohesion on issues of taxation, welfare, social and economic controversies

• Parties strongest in urban states where parties align with socioeconomic groups


The Growing Role of the Media in the The Growing Role of the Media in the Legislative ProcessLegislative Process

• Legislators increasingly use media coverage to influence

each other and their constituents

• Some legislators are quite adept at getting good media

coverage by writing clever press releases, staging a

press conference, and ensuring that these are covered

by the media in popular radio and television news

magazine shows

• Legislators are also wary of the capitol/statehouse press

corps

• But media coverage reduced because of budgets


Lobbying in State LegislaturesLobbying in State Legislatures

• The more specialized/technical the issue, the greater the interest

group influence

• Information exchange: Legislators use lobbyists, and vice versa

(symbiotic relationship)

• Threats and unsolicited campaign contributions: Tactics of

amateur rather than professional lobbyists

• Getting information: Much from committee testimony

• Lobbying the staff: Growing rapidly in importance

• Regulation of lobbying: All states do it, mostly registration and

spending reports

• Ex-legislator lobbyists: Powerful, well-connected


Most Effective Lobbying StrategiesMost Effective Lobbying Strategies


State Legislatures: A Critical AssessmentState Legislatures: A Critical Assessment

• Not popular

• No improvement despite institutional reforms of the past

decades, higher salaries, more professional legislators,

longer sessions, increased staff and better resources

• May be reflection of increasing cynicism and distrust at all

levels in society

• Parallels growth in calls for direct democracy

• Yet crisis not great enough to reduce re-election rates or

boost voter participation


On the WebOn the Web

• www.ncsl.org The National Conference of State The National Conference of State

LegislaturesLegislatures

• www.ncsl.org/wln Focuses on women Focuses on women

legislatorslegislators

• www.alldc.org American League of Lobbyists American League of Lobbyists

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© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Politics in States and Communities (15 Ed.) Thomas Dye, Susan MacManus Edited by Bob Botsch