Broad Bills or Particularistic Policy? Historical Patterns in American State Legislatures
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3245403 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gerald Gamm (0000-0003-1971-9448, University of Rochester), Thad Kousser (0000-0002-5489-5837, University of California San Diego) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 104 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 151-170 |
| Publication date | 2010-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Political Science Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-0554 • E-ISSN: 1537-5943 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s000305540999030x |
| OpenAlex | W2099275544 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 59 |
| References cited | 61 |
When do lawmakers craft broad policies, and when do they focus on narrow legislation tailored to a local interest? We investigate this question by exploring historical variation in the types of bills produced by American state legislatures. Drawing on a new database of 165,000 bills-covering sessions over 120 years in thirteen different states-we demonstrate the surprising prominence of particularistic bills affecting a specific legislator's district. We then develop and test a theory linking the goals of legislators to their propensity to introduce district bills rather than broad legislation. We find that, consistent with our predictions, politicians are more likely to craft policies targeted to a particular local interest when a legislature is dominated by one party or when it pays its members relatively high salaries. These findings provide empirical support for Key's (1949) thesis that one-party politics descends into factionalism and undermines the making of broad public policy
Craft · Economics · Empirical evidence · Geography · Legislation · Legislator · Legislature · Political economy · Political science · Politics · State (computer science · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Fiscal Policies and Political Economy · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth · Law · Public Administration
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| Unique citing works | 59 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3,69 |
| Citation span | 2010 - 2026 (17) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 57 |