Guide to State Politics and Policy by Niemi Richard G.;Dyck Joshua J.; & Joshua J. Dyck

Author:Niemi, Richard G.;Dyck, Joshua J.; & Joshua J. Dyck
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1481192
Publisher: CQ Press
Published: 2014-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

THE CONTINUING COURSE OF REFORM

Few, if any, state legislatures today are in a capacity-building mode. Most are retrenching. The term-limits movement has come to an end. Its effects are still being absorbed, but the adoption of term limits by other states or the repeal or liberalization of term limits in the fifteen states that enacted them is unlikely.

The other reform movement that we examined here—ethics regulation—continues to move along. National and state citizen groups keep advocating new and stronger regulation. The media editorialize along similar lines. Members, themselves, unwittingly help the cause of regulation by getting into trouble. Ethics reform will not go away, and certainly not while the public mood in many places is antipolitician and antipolitical.

Although no nationwide movements are underway currently, reform ideas still pop up in one place or another. Most continue to come from outside the legislature, although they have adherents inside as well. In some places, such as Michigan, the push is for a part-time citizen legislature. A few states, like Pennsylvania, think the process would improve if the number of members was reduced.

Other observers identify as an important problem the erosion of study and deliberation by legislatures. The weakening of committees and growing partisanship in many states are in part responsible for the deterioration of the process, which now focuses more on the political than the substantive aspects of policy. The ends have become more important than the means. While legislatures have become more responsive, many people question how responsible they are. Although they have responded to demands for the increases in programs and services, they have been reluctant to pay for them. Even the requirement that they balance their budgets has not averted structural deficits, and revenues from economic growth have not managed to save the day. Responsiveness pays off at the next election, but the payoffs from responsibility are longer-term and less concrete. What can legislatures do to achieve a balance between responsiveness on the one hand and responsibility on the other?

For those of an institutional bent, members’ lack of commitment to the legislature as an independent branch of government in a separation-of-powers system is a serious problem. If legislators themselves show little concern, who can be expected to worry about their institution’s well-being? The problem, of course, is devising ways to promote institutional commitment on the parts of members who are pulled in so many other and more immediate directions.

Growing numbers of Americans appear worried about the hyperpartisanship that currently characterizes national politics. Increasing partisanship and partisan conflict have been on the rise nationally since the 1970s. This trend grew in strength with the Republican takeover of Congress under the leadership of Newt Gingrich. It was going full steam during Barack Obama’s first term in presidential office. A number of factors account for the hyperpartisanship in Washington. More competitive politics, ideological voters polarized along Democratic and Republican lines, changes in the nature of political campaigns, and the new media environment are among the most important ones.

A recent study examines partisanship at the state level.

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