Term Limits and the Dismantling of State Legislative Professionalism

by Thad Kousser

• ISBN13: 9780521548731
• ISBN10: 052154873X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-11-22
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The wisdom of term limits and professional politics has been debated since the time of Aristotle, spurring 'reforms' of legislatures in Athens, Rome, Venice, and in the US under the Articles of Confederation. This book examines recent trends in American states in order to investigate the age-old question of how the rules that govern a legislature affect the behavior of its members and the policies that it produces. The clear and consistent finding is that the two reforms have countervailing effects: whatever professionalization has brought more of, term limits have reduced. This lesson comes from quantitative analyses of data from all fifty states and detailed examinations of legislative records from six states, informed by interviews with over one hundred legislators, staff assistants, lobbyists, journalists, and executive officials.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	viii
Acknowledgments	xi
PART I. THE MANY DESIGNS OF AMERICAN STATE LEGISLATURES
1. Introduction	3	(26)
2. Narratives of Change in Six States	29	(40)
PART II. HOW DESIGN AFFECTS A LEGISLATURE'S FORM
3. The Stability of Leadership: How Long Does "First among Equals" Last?	69	(24)
4. The Role of Committees: Independent Actors or Agents?	93	(33)
5. Patterns in Legislative Achievement	126	(25)
PART III. HOW DESIGN AFFECTS A LEGISLATURE'S FUNCTION
6. Bargaining between the Legislative and Executive Branches	151	(26)
7. The Production of Policy Innovation	177	(26)
8. Conclusions	203	(11)
9. Epilogue: Adaptations to Term Limits	214	(7)
Appendix to Chapter 3	221	(8)
Appendix to Chapter 4	229	(2)
Appendix to Chapter 5	231	(2)
Appendix to Chapter 6	233	(12)
Appendix to Chapter 7	245	(6)
References	251	(18)
Index	269