Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-30T23:12:28.545Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Institutions and Policy Representation in the States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Barry C. Burden
Barry C. Burden*
Affiliation:
Harvard University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Can government institutions strengthen the influence of public opinion on policymaking? While institutions often limit representation, I identify two institutional features of state lawmaking that may enhance democratic control, but in somewhat different ways. I hypothesize that one institution external to the state legislature—the ballot initiative—improves representation on specific issues, while one institution internal to the legislature—the committee discharge procedure—enhances responsiveness to mass preferences generally. This difference emerges because legislators engage in repeated interactions and logrolling across a wide range of issues while advocates of ballot initiatives do not. My analyses largely, although not entirely, support these hypotheses, with the initiative making abortion policy more responsive and committee discharge making policy generally more responsive. These results suggest a domain-specific influence of institutions that were previously thought to have similar effects on policy representation.

Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 5 , Issue 4 , Winter 2005 , pp. 373 - 393
Copyright
Copyright © 2005 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aldrich, John H., and Coleman Battista, James S.. 2002. “Conditional Party Government in the States.” American Journal of Political Science 46:164–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arceneaux, Kevin. 2002. “Direct Democracy and the Link between Public Opinion and State Abortion Policy.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 2:372–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arrow, Kenneth. 1951. Social Choice and Individual Values. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Bali, Valentina A. 2003. “Implementing Popular Initiatives: What Matters for Compliance?” Journal of Politics 65:1130–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, Nathaniel, and Jackman, Simon. 1998. “Beyond Linearity by Default: Generalized Additive Models.” American Journal of Political Science 42:596–627.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beth, Richard S. 2001. “The Discharge Rule in the House: Recent Use in Historical Context.” Congressional Research Service Report 97-856.Google Scholar
Binder, Sarah A. 1997. Minority Rights, Majority Rule: Partisanship and the Development of Congress. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowler, Shaun, and Donovan, Todd. 2004. “Measuring the Effects of Direct Democracy on State Policy: Not All Initiatives Are Created Equal.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 4:345–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brambor, Thomas, Clark, William Roberts, and Golder, Matt. N.d. “Understanding Interaction Terms: Improving Empirical Analyses.” Political Analysis. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
Braumoeller, Bear F. 2004. “Hypothesis Testing and Multiplicative Interaction Terms.” International Organization 58:807–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broder, David S. 2000. Democracy Derailed: Initiative Campaigns and the Power of Money. New York: Harcourt.Google Scholar
Burden, Barry C. 2003. “The Discharge Rule and Majoritarian Politics in the House of Representatives.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, PA.Google Scholar
Camobreco, John F. 1998. “Preferences, Fiscal Policies, and the Initiative Process.” Journal of Politics 60:819–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carmines, Edward G., and Stimson, James A.. 1980. “The Two Faces of Issue Voting.” American Political Science Review 74:78–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clucas, Richard A. 2001. “Principal-Agent Theory and the Power of State House Speakers.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 26:319–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, Lee G., and Nakanishi, Masao. 1983. “Standardizing Variables in Multiplicative Choice Models.” Journal of Consumer Research 10:96–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, Gary W., and McCubbins, Mathew D.. 1993. Legislative Leviathan: Party Government in the House. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Dahl, Robert A. 2003. How Democratic Is the American Constitution? 2nd ed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Deering, Christopher J., and Smith, Steven S.. 1997. Committees in Congress. Washington, DC: CQ Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erikson, Robert S., Wright, Gerald C., and McIver, John P.. 1993. Statehouse Democracy: Public Opinion and the American States. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Fenno, Richard F. Jr. 1962. “The House Appropriations Committee as a Political System: The Problem of Integration.” American Political Science Review 56:310–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fiorina, Morris. 1996. Divided Government. 2nd ed. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
Francis, Wayne L. 1989. The Legislative Committee Game: A Comparative Analysis of the Fifty States. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press.Google Scholar
Friedrich, Robert J. 1982. “In Defense of Multiplicative Terms in Multiple Regression Equations.” American Journal of Political Science 26:797–833.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerber, Elisabeth R. 1996. “Legislative Response to the Threat of Popular Initiatives.” American Journal of Political Science 40:99–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerber, Elisabeth R. 1999. The Populist Paradox: Interest Group Influence and the Promise of Direct Legislation. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Gerber, Elisabeth R., Lupia, Arthur, and McCubbins, Mathew D.. 2004. “When Does Government Limit the Impact of Voter Initiatives? The Politics of Implementation and Enforcement.” Journal of Politics 66:43–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerber, Elisabeth R., Lupia, Arthur, McCubbins, Mathew D., and Roderick Kiewiet, D.. 2000. Stealing the Initiative: How State Government Responds to Direct Democracy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Greene, William H. 2002. Econometric Analysis. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Hamm, Keith E., Hedlund, Ronald D., and Martorano, Nancy. 2001. “Structuring Committee Decision-Making: Rules and Procedures in U.S. State Legislatures.” Journal of Legislative Studies 7:13–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamm, Keith E., and Moncrief, Gary F.. 2004. “Legislative Politics in the States.” In Politics in the American States: A Comparative Analysis, eds. Gray, Virginia and Hanson, Russell L.. 8th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Hastie, Trevor J., and Tibshirani, Robert J.. 1990. Generalized Additive Models. New York: Chapman and Hall.Google Scholar
Jones, Bradford S., and Norrander, Barbara. 1996. “The Reliability of Aggregated Public Opinion Measures.” American Journal of Political Science 40:295–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kam, Cindy, and Franzese, Robert J. Jr. 2005. “Modeling and Interpreting Interactive Hypotheses in Regression Analysis: A Refresher and Some Practical Advice.” University of Michigan. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
King, Gary, Tomz, Michael, and Wittenberg, Jason. 2000. “Making the Most of Statistical Analyses: Improving Interpretation and Presentation.” American Journal of Political Science 44:347–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krehbiel, Keith. 1985. “Obstruction and Representation in Legislatures.” American Journal of Political Science 29:643–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krehbiel, Keith. 1991. Information and Legislative Organization. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krehbiel, Keith. 1999. “Paradoxes of Parties in Congress.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 24:31–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lascher, Edward L. Jr., Hagen, Michael G., and Rochlin, Steven A.. 1996. “Gun behind the Door? Ballot Initiatives, State Policies, and Public Opinion.” Journal of Politics 58:760–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lupia, Arthur, and Matsusaka, John G.. 2004. “Direct Democracy: New Approaches to Old Questions.” Annual Review of Political Science 7:463–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matsusaka, John G. 2001. “Problems with a Methodology Used to Evaluate the Voter Initiative.” Journal of Politics 63:1250–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matsusaka, John G. 2004. The Initiative Process, Public Policy, and American Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Miller, Warren E., and Stokes, Donald E.. 1963. “Constituency Influence in Congress.” American Political Science Review 57:45–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mooney, Christopher Z., ed. 2001. The Public Clash of Private Values: The Politics of Morality Policy. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House Press.Google Scholar
Norrander, Barbara. 2000. “The Multi-Layered Impact of Public Opinion on Capital Punishment Implementation in the American States.” Political Research Quarterly 53:771–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norrander, Barbara. 2001. “Measuring State Public Opinion with the Senate National Election Study.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 1:113–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oleszek, Walter J. 2004. Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process. 6th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Overby, L. Marvin, Kazee, Thomas A., and Prince, David W.. 2004. “Committee Outliers in State Legislatures.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 29:81–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pitkin, Hanna F. 1967. The Concept of Representation. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenthal, Alan. 1998. The Decline of Representative Democracy: Process, Participation, and Power in State Legislatures. Washington, DC: CQ Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schickler, Eric. 2001. Disjointed Pluralism: Institutional Innovation and the Development of the U.S. Congress. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Sharp, Elaine B. 1999. The Sometime Connection: Public Opinion and Social Policy. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Shepsle, Kenneth A., and Weingast, Barry R.. 1987. “The Institutional Foundations of Committee Power.” American Political Science Review 81:85–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Daniel A. 1998. Tax Crusaders and the Politics of Direct Democracy. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Smith, Daniel A. 2001. “Homeward Bound? Micro-Level Legislative Responsiveness to Ballot Initiatives.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 1:50–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Kent W., and Sasaki, M.S.. 1979. “Decreasing Multicollinearity: A Method for Models with Multiplicative Functions.” Sociological Methods and Research 8:35–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, Gerald C., McIver, John P., Erikson, Robert S., and Holian, David B.. 2000. “Stability and Change in State Electorates, Carter through Clinton.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago.Google Scholar