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The wisdom of term limits and professional politics has been debated since the time of Aristotle, spurring 'reforms' of legislatures in Athens, Rome, Venice, and in the US under the Articles of Confederation. This book examines recent trends in American states in order to investigate the age-old question of how the rules that govern a legislature affect the behavior of its members and the policies that it produces. The clear and consistent finding is that the two reforms have countervailing effects: whatever professionalization has brought more of, term limits have reduced. This lesson comes from quantitative analyses of data from all fifty states and detailed examinations of legislative records from six states, informed by interviews with over one hundred legislators, staff assistants, lobbyists, journalists, and executive officials.
"A thorough analysis of the impact term limits have had on the functions of state legislatures, Kousser's book is exceptionally well written." The Law and Politics Book Review
| The Many Designs of American State Legislature | |
| Introduction | |
| Narratives of change in six states | |
| How Design Affects a Legislature's Form | |
| The stability of leadership: how long do 'First Among Equals' last? | |
| The role of committees: independent actors or agents? | |
| Patterns in legislative achievement | |
| How Design Affects a Legislature's Function | |
| Bargaining between the legislative and executive branches | |
| The production of policy innovation | |
| Conclusions | |
| Epilogue: adaptations to term limits | |
| Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved. |
ISBN: 9780521548731
ISBN-10: 052154873X
Audience:
Tertiary; University or College
Format:
Paperback
Language:
English
Number Of Pages: 286
Published: 22nd November 2004
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: GB
Dimensions (cm): 22.8 x 15.2
x 2.2
Weight (kg): 0.39
