A concise and provocative introduction to State Legislative Politics, State Legislatures Today is designed as a supplement for state and local government courses and upper level courses on legislative politics. The book examines state legislatures and state lawmakers, putting them in historical context, showing how they have evolved over the years, and differentiating them from Congress. It covers state legislative elections (including the impact of redistricting, candidate recruitment, etc.), the changing job description of state legislators, legislatures as organizations, the process by which legislation gets produced, and the influences upon legislators. Many things have happened in the five years since the popular first edition. Significant developments addressed in the new edition include: 1. The rise of the Tea Party Movement, which has contributed to the stalemate in Congress and greatly influenced legislative politics in many states. Indeed, the Tea Party’s greatest impact has been in state capitals, not in Washington, DC. 2. A marked increase in one-party government, resulting in greatest number of states with one-party government in at least fifty years. One-party government, of course, allows for dramatic policy shifts. Thus, governors and state legislatures have been able to make significant policy decisions while Congress and the President have been gridlocked. 3. A dramatic increase in the use of recall elections (Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin) and referenda to challenge legislative policy decisions (Idaho, South Dakota, Ohio, and Washington), signaling a growing frustration with legislative policies in some states. Recall elections and referenda only occur at the state level. 4. Changes in term limits and budgeting laws in California directly affecting the work of the legislature in the largest state in the Union. 5. Highly visible state legislative policies on hot-button issues such as gun control, taxation, public employee benefits, teachers’ unions, taxation, abortion, immigration and education reform. The conflicts generated by these debates have produced incidents that captured national attention, perhaps most notably when Democrats in the Wisconsin Senate fled to Illinois to break quorum and prevent the Republicans from passing a measure limiting public unions in the state. 6. Efforts to profoundly alter the structure of some state legislatures, such as a measure to substantially reduce the number of legislative seats in Pennsylvania and a proposed initiative to radically increase the number of seats in California. 7. The culmination of a redistricting cycle in 2012 which alters the nature of many legislative districts and the course of politics and policy over the next decade. 8. A rare and historic “wave election” in 2010 that saw the Republican Party gain more than 700 seats in state legislatures.

Every two years American voters turn out to elect several thousand representatives to state legislatures. Only now in Representation in State Legislatures do we have a detailed examination of how these officials perceive their jobs and how they attempt to do them. To provide answers to these questions, Malcolm E. Jewell conducted intensive interviews with 220 members of houses of representatives in nine selected states. He asked each legislator how he kept in touch with his constituents, how he resolved matters of policy, how he sought government resources for his district, and what services he provided for individual constituents. State legislatures differ greatly, and they are not institutionalized to the same degree as the national congress. It is difficult, therefore, to generalize on such effects as partisanship. Likewise it appears that past explanatory models do not adequately describe the complex relationships seen by most legislators in their work. The state legislature is changing. It is becoming more institutionalized. It is becoming more stable as fewer members retire and more are reelected. The trend is toward longer sessions, increased staff, and more activity. With this trend the legislator is becoming more visible; he can deal with lawmaking while having greater opportunities to provide services and to gain publicity for them. As the move, begun by the Reagan administration, to put more responsibility for programs on the states continues, the state legislatures will assume a place of greater importance in the governing of the United States. This pioneering study of representation will thereby gain significance both for the understanding it imparts and for the new questions it raises.

This book examines how legislature rules affect the behavior of its members and policies.

Women remain dramatically underrepresented in elective office, including in entry-level political offices. While they enjoy the freedom to stand for office and therefore have an equal legal footing with men, this persistent gender imbalance raises pressing questions about democratic legitimacy, the inclusivity of American politics, and the quality of political representation. The reasons for women's underrepresentation remain the subject of much debate. One explanation--that the United States lacks sufficient openings for political newcomers--has become less compelling in recent years, as states that have adopted term limits have not seen the expected gains in women's office holding. Other accounts about candidate scarcity, gender inequalities in society, and the lingering effects of gendered socialization have some merit; however, these accounts still fail to explain the relatively low numbers. Drawing upon original surveys conducted in 1981 and 2008 by the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) of women state legislators across all fifty states, and follow-up interviews after the 2008 survey, the authors find that gender differences in pathways to the legislatures, first evident in 1981, have been surprisingly persistent over time. They find that, while the ambition framework better explains men's decisions to run for office, a relationally embedded model of candidate emergence better captures women's decision-making, with women's decisions more often influenced by the encouragement and support of parties, organizations, and family members. By rethinking the nature of women's representation, this study calls for a reorientation of academic research on women's election to office and provides insight into new strategies for political practitioners concerned about women's political equality.

Squire offers a comprehensive history of legislatures, core institutions in American political development

When it comes to voting, taxes, environmental regulations, social services, education, criminal justice, political parties, property rights, gun control, marriage and divorce and just about anything else other than national defense, the state in which you reside makes a difference. That idea—that states matter—is the fundamental concept explored in this book, and has been an essential truth to America's governing philosophy since the Colonial Era.