Legislative Participation in the American States: Determinants and Consequences

This research seeks to analyze the variability in participation across legislators at the state level and to consider the potential consequences of participatory behavior. In this dissertation, I draw on theories of political participation, legislative goals, and state political institutions to expl...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kromer, Mileah Kay
Other Authors: Robert Goidel
Format: Others
Language:en
Published: LSU 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-07092008-211200/
Description
Summary:This research seeks to analyze the variability in participation across legislators at the state level and to consider the potential consequences of participatory behavior. In this dissertation, I draw on theories of political participation, legislative goals, and state political institutions to explain participation in state legislative activities. To begin with, I examine legislative participation across the legislative process, considering the determinants of sponsorship and roll-call participation. Next, I examine the consequences that participation has for legislators focusing on challenger emergence in the general election. My research demonstrates that legislative participation varies systematically across individual, institutional, and state level variables. However, final results indicate that participatory variables do not condition challenger emergence in the general election.