Jordan Butcher
Biographic Data
| ID | 4124234 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jordan Butcher |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jordan |
| FAMILY NAME | Butcher |
| SIGNATURE | BUTCHER J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Arkansas State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5925-5129 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 21 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 14 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
The Seat Dataset
State legislative turnover is one of the most commonly included measures in state and legislative politics. Yet, few states count legislative turnover or maintain records of internal shifts and those that do often have differences in how these records are maintained. To help resolve these differences we introduce SEAT, State Exits & Annual Turnover, a new dataset tracking legislative turnover in all 50 states spanning 30 years. In brief, we revie…
Ninety-Nine Chambers and the Development of Comparative Legislative Studies
In 1997, Malcolm Jewell published a review of state legislative research stating that there were great “difficulties and possibilities of doing comparative work.” Much of this difficulty lies with data and accessibility. As such, many of the foundational works in state politics, and particularly in U.S. legislatures, were rooted in single-state or small sample studies. In the 25 years since State Politics & Policy Quarterly started publication, c…
The 2024 Rainbow Wave
Following the 2024 election, LGBTQ+ representation in state legislatures increased, yet, at the same time, 2024 also marked a record-breaking year for anti-trans legislation being introduced in the states. In this brief note, we explore LGBTQ+ representation in U.S. state legislatures, the unique backgrounds of the 2024 newcomers, and how minority representation across the states continues to increase despite national rhetoric indicating otherwis…
Parties and professionals, an exploration of turnover in U.S. state legislatures
Legislative turnover is a tool that helps us to understand how the legislature functions and what attracts lawmakers to serve. The variation among U.S. state legislatures presents a unique opportunity to explore the factors contributing to turnover rates. The existing research on legislative professionalisation, party control, and party competition point to possible mechanisms for member retention. This study examines the effects of these mechani…
Stronger”
The gendered makeup of state legislatures has been in a constant state of change since women were first allowed to serve in office. Through certain periods, there have been accelerations in the rate at which women gain representation, but they have never held a majority of state legislative seats throughout the United States. In this short article, we review the history of women's representation and the components that have endangered and encoura…
Out with the Old, In with the Republicans? The Partisan Push of Legislative Term Limits
Legislative term limits garnered public support because they promised to drain the swamp, removing entrenched incumbents from office. There is often a partisan dimension to this appeal since “the swamp” that is to be “drained” has often been controlled by one party for a lengthy period. However, it remains unclear to what extent term limits realign partisanship within US state legislatures. Using newly available turnover data, this research evalu…
Already Gone
Diversity in representation is a necessary component of legislatures, both normatively and for the best policy outcomes. Recently, women legislators have received more attention, as has their role in office. While scholars have examined the importance of recruiting more women to office, there is less emphasis on the retention of women as legislators. The key to expanding women's representation in state legislatures rests in both the recruitment a…
Legislating as Your Full Self
While recent gains in diversity in US state legislatures are notable, state legislatures remain disproportionately white and male. In this critical perspective piece, we examine the gains in representation and entrance to office of a group legislators who comprise an important intersection of identity in American politics: queer women of color. We find that the 30 Democratic queer women of color currently in office replaced fellow Democrats in al…
Be Careful what You Count
Legislative turnover is indicative of political careerism, district competitiveness, and the strength of the incumbency advantage. Although there are many examinations of legislative turnover in U.S. state legislatures, there has not been an update in nearly 2 decades. One limitation of the existing turnover measures is the inability to distinguish between naturally occurring turnover and the artificial turnover caused by term limits. In this res…
Under Pressure
The modern presidency is one of administration, where presidents seek to further their own agendas by directing administrative behavior throughout the executive branch. Yet little research explores how executive agencies organize their policy processes in response to publicly articulated presidential priorities. Using two novel datasets that allow us to examine the regulatory priorities of presidents and how executive agencies organize their rule…
An Update to the Squire State Court of Last Resort Professionalization Index
The current version of the Squire state court of last resort professionalization index is regularly used in studies of state courts. We have updated the index for 2019, producing a second and more recent index. Given the relative stability between this index and its predecessor, it is unlikely that many findings will change. During the 15 years that lapsed between the first index and the more recent one, little changed in most states, while refor…
Rethinking retirement
Political careerism has long focused on the idea of progressive ambition, rarely using retirements as a measure. The end of a legislator's career can reveal how term limits have changed the institution and legislative behaviour. Term limits, intended to curb legislative careers, have unintentionally led to changes in career ambition. The rate at which members retire is dependent on the type of term limit that a member faces and the institutional …
The Development of Representation in American Political Institutions
At the forefront of American democracy lies the representative. There has been ample debate over congressional representation and how members of Congress are to act in response to their constituents. We take on the task of assessing the path to congressional representation by analyzing eight institutional dimensions of representation during the founding. We uncover why term limits, recall, annual terms, small constituencies, and the right of inst…
Do Campaign Finance Reforms Insulate Incumbents from Competition? New Evidence from State Legislative Elections
Variations in state campaign finance regulations across states and over time provide an opportunity to test the effects of reforms on the electoral success of incumbent state legislators. We use the most recent state legislative election returns dataset to test whether state campaign finance reforms help or hinder incumbents. Our analysis of nearly 66,000 contests in 33 years reveals that campaign contribution limits and partial public financing …
An Update to the Squire State Court of Last Resort Professionalization Index
The current version of the Squire state court of last resort professionalization index is regularly used in studies of state courts. We have updated the index for 2019, producing a second and more recent index. Given the relative stability between this index and its predecessor, it is unlikely that many findings will change. During the 15 years that lapsed between the first index and the more recent one, little changed in most states, while refor…
Rethinking retirement
Political careerism has long focused on the idea of progressive ambition, rarely using retirements as a measure. The end of a legislator's career can reveal how term limits have changed the institution and legislative behaviour. Term limits, intended to curb legislative careers, have unintentionally led to changes in career ambition. The rate at which members retire is dependent on the type of term limit that a member faces and the institutional …
Already Gone
Diversity in representation is a necessary component of legislatures, both normatively and for the best policy outcomes. Recently, women legislators have received more attention, as has their role in office. While scholars have examined the importance of recruiting more women to office, there is less emphasis on the retention of women as legislators. The key to expanding women's representation in state legislatures rests in both the recruitment a…
Legislating as Your Full Self
While recent gains in diversity in US state legislatures are notable, state legislatures remain disproportionately white and male. In this critical perspective piece, we examine the gains in representation and entrance to office of a group legislators who comprise an important intersection of identity in American politics: queer women of color. We find that the 30 Democratic queer women of color currently in office replaced fellow Democrats in al…
Be Careful what You Count
Legislative turnover is indicative of political careerism, district competitiveness, and the strength of the incumbency advantage. Although there are many examinations of legislative turnover in U.S. state legislatures, there has not been an update in nearly 2 decades. One limitation of the existing turnover measures is the inability to distinguish between naturally occurring turnover and the artificial turnover caused by term limits. In this res…
Under Pressure
The modern presidency is one of administration, where presidents seek to further their own agendas by directing administrative behavior throughout the executive branch. Yet little research explores how executive agencies organize their policy processes in response to publicly articulated presidential priorities. Using two novel datasets that allow us to examine the regulatory priorities of presidents and how executive agencies organize their rule…
Do Campaign Finance Reforms Insulate Incumbents from Competition? New Evidence from State Legislative Elections
Variations in state campaign finance regulations across states and over time provide an opportunity to test the effects of reforms on the electoral success of incumbent state legislators. We use the most recent state legislative election returns dataset to test whether state campaign finance reforms help or hinder incumbents. Our analysis of nearly 66,000 contests in 33 years reveals that campaign contribution limits and partial public financing …
The Development of Representation in American Political Institutions
At the forefront of American democracy lies the representative. There has been ample debate over congressional representation and how members of Congress are to act in response to their constituents. We take on the task of assessing the path to congressional representation by analyzing eight institutional dimensions of representation during the founding. We uncover why term limits, recall, annual terms, small constituencies, and the right of inst…
Do Campaign Finance Reforms Insulate Incumbents from Competition? New Evidence from State Legislative Elections
Variations in state campaign finance regulations across states and over time provide an opportunity to test the effects of reforms on the electoral success of incumbent state legislators. We use the most recent state legislative election returns dataset to test whether state campaign finance reforms help or hinder incumbents. Our analysis of nearly 66,000 contests in 33 years reveals that campaign contribution limits and partial public financing …
Under Pressure
The modern presidency is one of administration, where presidents seek to further their own agendas by directing administrative behavior throughout the executive branch. Yet little research explores how executive agencies organize their policy processes in response to publicly articulated presidential priorities. Using two novel datasets that allow us to examine the regulatory priorities of presidents and how executive agencies organize their rule…
An Update to the Squire State Court of Last Resort Professionalization Index
The current version of the Squire state court of last resort professionalization index is regularly used in studies of state courts. We have updated the index for 2019, producing a second and more recent index. Given the relative stability between this index and its predecessor, it is unlikely that many findings will change. During the 15 years that lapsed between the first index and the more recent one, little changed in most states, while refor…
Rethinking retirement
Political careerism has long focused on the idea of progressive ambition, rarely using retirements as a measure. The end of a legislator's career can reveal how term limits have changed the institution and legislative behaviour. Term limits, intended to curb legislative careers, have unintentionally led to changes in career ambition. The rate at which members retire is dependent on the type of term limit that a member faces and the institutional …
Legislating as Your Full Self
While recent gains in diversity in US state legislatures are notable, state legislatures remain disproportionately white and male. In this critical perspective piece, we examine the gains in representation and entrance to office of a group legislators who comprise an important intersection of identity in American politics: queer women of color. We find that the 30 Democratic queer women of color currently in office replaced fellow Democrats in al…
Be Careful what You Count
Legislative turnover is indicative of political careerism, district competitiveness, and the strength of the incumbency advantage. Although there are many examinations of legislative turnover in U.S. state legislatures, there has not been an update in nearly 2 decades. One limitation of the existing turnover measures is the inability to distinguish between naturally occurring turnover and the artificial turnover caused by term limits. In this res…
Already Gone
Diversity in representation is a necessary component of legislatures, both normatively and for the best policy outcomes. Recently, women legislators have received more attention, as has their role in office. While scholars have examined the importance of recruiting more women to office, there is less emphasis on the retention of women as legislators. The key to expanding women's representation in state legislatures rests in both the recruitment a…
Parties and professionals, an exploration of turnover in U.S. state legislatures
Legislative turnover is a tool that helps us to understand how the legislature functions and what attracts lawmakers to serve. The variation among U.S. state legislatures presents a unique opportunity to explore the factors contributing to turnover rates. The existing research on legislative professionalisation, party control, and party competition point to possible mechanisms for member retention. This study examines the effects of these mechani…
Stronger”
The gendered makeup of state legislatures has been in a constant state of change since women were first allowed to serve in office. Through certain periods, there have been accelerations in the rate at which women gain representation, but they have never held a majority of state legislative seats throughout the United States. In this short article, we review the history of women's representation and the components that have endangered and encoura…
Out with the Old, In with the Republicans? The Partisan Push of Legislative Term Limits
Legislative term limits garnered public support because they promised to drain the swamp, removing entrenched incumbents from office. There is often a partisan dimension to this appeal since “the swamp” that is to be “drained” has often been controlled by one party for a lengthy period. However, it remains unclear to what extent term limits realign partisanship within US state legislatures. Using newly available turnover data, this research evalu…
The Seat Dataset
State legislative turnover is one of the most commonly included measures in state and legislative politics. Yet, few states count legislative turnover or maintain records of internal shifts and those that do often have differences in how these records are maintained. To help resolve these differences we introduce SEAT, State Exits & Annual Turnover, a new dataset tracking legislative turnover in all 50 states spanning 30 years. In brief, we revie…
Ninety-Nine Chambers and the Development of Comparative Legislative Studies
In 1997, Malcolm Jewell published a review of state legislative research stating that there were great “difficulties and possibilities of doing comparative work.” Much of this difficulty lies with data and accessibility. As such, many of the foundational works in state politics, and particularly in U.S. legislatures, were rooted in single-state or small sample studies. In the 25 years since State Politics & Policy Quarterly started publication, c…
The 2024 Rainbow Wave
Following the 2024 election, LGBTQ+ representation in state legislatures increased, yet, at the same time, 2024 also marked a record-breaking year for anti-trans legislation being introduced in the states. In this brief note, we explore LGBTQ+ representation in U.S. state legislatures, the unique backgrounds of the 2024 newcomers, and how minority representation across the states continues to increase despite national rhetoric indicating otherwis…
Legislature (11 works) · Political science (11 works) · Electoral Systems and Political Participation (10 works) · Law (10 works) · Politics (10 works) · Law (8 works) · Public Administration (8 works) · Economics (6 works) · Gender Politics and Representation (5 works) · Judicial and Constitutional Studies (5 works)