Chapter 7: Legislatures Study Notes

Chapter 7: Legislatures

Demographic Diversity in State Legislatures

Overview of Legislative Composition (2023)
  • Women, African American, and Hispanic State Legislators:
    • Illinois: 177 total seats, 36 women (20.3%), 10 African American (5.6%), 1 Hispanic (0.6%)
    • Indiana: 150 total seats, 24 women (16%), 0 African American, 1 Hispanic (0.7%)
    • Iowa: 150 total seats, 29 women (19.3%), 0 African American, 0 Hispanic
    • Kansas: 165 total seats, 28 women (17%), 5 African American (3%), 2 Hispanic (1.2%)
    • Kentucky: 138 total seats, 23 women (16.7%), 5 African American (3.6%), 0 Hispanic
    • Louisiana: 144 total seats, 18 women (12.5%), 25 African American (17.4%), 0 Hispanic
    • Maine: 186 total seats, 39 women (20.9%), 3 African American (1.6%), 0 Hispanic
    • Maryland: 188 total seats, 39 women (20.7%), 27 African American (14.4%), 2 Hispanic (0.1%)
    • Massachusetts: 200 total seats, 29 women (14.5%), 4 African American (2%), 9 Hispanic (4.5%)
    • Michigan: 148 total seats, 36 women (24.3%), 11 African American (7.4%), 1 Hispanic (0.7%)
    • Minnesota: 201 total seats, 29 women (14.4%), 11 African American (5.5%), 6 Hispanic (3%)
    • Mississippi: 174 total seats, 17 women (9.7%), 31 African American (17.8%), 1 Hispanic (0.6%)
    • Missouri: 197 total seats, 25 women (12.7%), 14 African American (7.1%), 0 Hispanic
    • Montana: 150 total seats, 30 women (20%), 0 African American, 1 Hispanic (0.7%)
    • Nebraska: 49 total seats, 29 women (59.2%), 2 African American (4.1%), 4 Hispanic (8.2%)
    • Nevada: 63 total seats, 52 women (82.5%), 11 African American (17.5%), 10 Hispanic (15.9%)
    • New Hampshire: 424 total seats, 34 women (8%), 1 African American (0.2%), 1 Hispanic (0.2%)
    • New Jersey: 120 total seats, 37 women (30.8%), 15 African American (12.5%), 9 Hispanic (7.5%)
    • New Mexico: 112 total seats, 37 women (33%), 2 African American (1.8%), 35 Hispanic (31.3%)
    • New York: 213 total seats, 32 women (15%), 16 African American (7.5%), 8 Hispanic (3.8%)
    • North Carolina: 170 total seats, 25 women (14.7%), 18 African American (10.6%), 0 Hispanic
    • North Dakota: 141 total seats, 21 women (14.9%), 0 African American, 1 Hispanic (0.7%)
    • Ohio: 132 total seats, 27 women (20.5%), 12 African American (9.1%), 1 Hispanic (0.8%)
    • Oklahoma: 149 total seats, 22 women (14.7%), 4 African American (2.7%), 0 Hispanic
    • Oregon: 90 total seats, 40 women (44.4%), 7 African American (7.8%), 2 Hispanic (2.2%)
    • Pennsylvania: 253 total seats, 38 women (15%), 4 African American (1.6%), 11 Hispanic (4.4%)
    • Rhode Island: 113 total seats, 16 women (14.2%), 22 African American (19.5%), 2 Hispanic (1.8%)
    • South Carolina: 170 total seats, 0 women, 0 African American, 0 Hispanic.

Professional Versus Citizen Legislators

Historical Context and Current Trends
  • Historically, legislatures were part-time and brief; typically convening every other year.
  • In contrast, modern legislatures are becoming more professionalized:
    • Most meet annual sessions with a few exceptions.
    • Some chambers now operate on a full-time basis, employing high salaries and large staff.
  • The trend indicates a shift towards professionalism:
    • Even part-time legislatures require members to devote a significant amount of time, averaging one-third of their time to legislative work.
  • In the 1940s, only 4 states (New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina) had annual legislative sessions; today, only 4 do not.
Effects of Professionalism
  • Professionalized chambers tend to operate year-round and have substantial resources:
    • Examples include California and Pennsylvania, which have extensive legislative periods.
  • Contrastingly, amateur legislatures, often in states like Texas, meet part-time, reflecting a distrust of government and maintaining lower taxes.
  • The number of legislative staffers has decreased (1996-2015), notably during budget crises:
    • For instance, Alaska cut its research staff by 40% in 2015 due to budget shortfalls.

Legislative Work and Time Management

Last-Minute Legislation
  • As sessions near their conclusion, legislatures frequently pass multiple bills rapidly, with intense focus on getting work completed.
    • Example: During a final week in Illinois, 188 bills passed at a rate of one every 18 minutes.
  • This phenomenon reflects human nature to procrastinate, commonly seen in legislative practices.
Implications of Legislative Deadlines
  • Under tight deadlines, legislators may push through unpopular bills or kill proposals simply due to time constraints:
    • Deadlines can leverage negotiations and help expedite certain measures through chambers.
  • Some chambers establish a series of choke points where bills become stuck.
    • Example: In Texas, only one bill may be advanced at a time for consideration.

Challenges Facing Modern Legislatures

Public Perception and Accountability
  • Despite the increased professionalism, many legislatures remain unpopular and trend toward dysfunction:
    • Cases of unethical behavior, criticisms in media, and lack of accountability affect public trust.
  • Reports indicate that public understanding is limited, as many citizens cannot name their own legislators.
Media Coverage and Its Effect
  • The diminishing number of reporters covering state legislatures results in decreased scrutiny and public knowledge:
    • Between 2014-2022, the presence of statehouse reporters dropped by 6%.
  • The dependency on social media allows legislators to directly communicate with their constituents independent of media, which can bypass traditional oversight.
Term Limits and Legislative Power
  • Term limits have emerged as a method to curb career politicians but can counterintuitively lead to increased polarization among candidates:
    • Research indicates legislators in term-limit states make fewer significant changes to executive budgets, undermining legislative power.

Summary of Key Concepts

  • Apportionment: Division of seats in a legislature among various districts based on population.
  • Casework: Assistance provided by legislators to constituents in navigating state agencies.
  • Caucus: A meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement.
  • Coalition building: The process of uniting diverse groups or individuals for a common purpose.
  • Committee: A group of legislators tasked with specific duties to organize and manage legislative work.
  • Compromises: Agreements between conflicting parties to achieve a collective outcome.
  • Constituent service: The efforts made by legislators to serve the needs and concerns of their constituents.
  • Delegates: Individuals chosen to represent others, particularly in voting processes.
  • Districts: Geographical areas represented by elected officials.
  • Logrolling: The practice of exchanging favors or votes among legislators to achieve desired outcomes.
  • Majority rule: A principle where the decision of more than half the members prevails.
  • Majority-minority districts: Electoral districts where a majority of the constituents are from a minority group.
  • Malapportionment: Unequal representation due to irregular district sizes.
  • Override: The action of overriding a veto by the legislature.
  • Oversight: The review and supervision of executive branch agencies by the legislature.
  • Professionalized legislatures: Legislative bodies that operate similarly to full-time organizations, often with high salaries and comprehensive staffing.
  • Rank-and-file members: Legislators who are not in leadership positions, typically less influential in agenda-setting.
  • Representation: The act of standing for or acting on behalf of constituents in government.
  • Filibuster: A Senate tactic used to delay or prevent legislative action.
  • Gerrymanders: Manipulation of electoral district boundaries to favor a political party.
  • Riders: Amendments added to bills that may not directly relate to the original bill.
  • Trustees: Legislators who act based on their own judgment rather than direct direction from constituents.
  • Veto: The power of a governor to reject a bill passed by the legislature.

Discussion Questions

  1. Considering the difficulties inherent in the legislative process, is it problematic that legislation is often hard to create?
  2. What are additional significant roles for legislators beyond law-making?
  3. How essential is it for legislatures to represent diverse demographics?
  4. In an age where many districts are politically safe, how can constituents effectively influence their representatives?

Recent Research Highlights

  • New studies explore the relationship between legislative polarization and electoral outcomes, revealing increased polarization and competition among state legislative candidates.