Term Limits and the Dismantling of State Legislative Professionalism [Hardcover]

This book examines how legislature rules affect the behavior of its members and policies.This is the first book-length study of the effects that term limit laws--restrictions on the number of years for which legislators can serve--have had on politics and policy in American states. It combines interviews of capitol insiders with archival records and statistical analyses. The final conclusion that term limits has made professional legislatures more like citizen houses, turning back the clock on American state politics--bears relevance to the current debate over the wisdom of term limits.This is the first book-length study of the effects that term limit laws--restrictions on the number of years for which legislators can serve--have had on politics and policy in American states. It combines interviews of capitol insiders with archival records and statistical analyses. The final conclusion that term limits has made professional legislatures more like citizen houses, turning back the clock on American state politics--bears relevance to the current debate over the wisdom of term limits.This study of the effects that term limit laws (restrictions on the number of years for which legislators can serve) have had on politics and policy in American states, combines interviews of capitol insiders with archival records and statistical analysis. The final conclusion--that term limits have had an adverse effect on the professional behavior of legislative members--bears relevance to the current debate over the wisdom of establishing term limits.Part I. The Many Designs of American State Legislature: 1. Introduction; 2. Narratives of change in six states; Part II. How Design Affects a Legislature's Form: 3. The stability of leadership: how long do 'First Among Equals' last?; 4. The role of committees: independent actors or agents?; 5. Patterns in legislative achievement; Part III. How Design Affects a Legislature's Function: 6. Bargaining between the legislative and executive bl££