In the tradition of Malcolm Jewell and Alan Rosenthal, Rebekah Herrick investigates the complexities of representation at the state legislative level. This is an innovative effort to untangle the effects of various institutional and electoral arrangements on legislative behavior. It is an ambitious study.
Gary Moncrief, Boise State University Dr. Herrick's book is an important contribution to the discipline's ... Read moreunderstanding of how representation by state legislators, in its various forms, is influenced by state legislative institutions. We know that the rules and structures of an institution have an impact on individual behavior. Dr. Herrick's study is an excellent empirical test of how the rules and structures actually influence the representative style of legislators.
Sam Fisher, University of South Alabama This book's focus is solely on US state legislatures. Herrick (Oklahoma State Univ.) begins with a nuanced discussion of how professionalism, election laws, term limits, and district features may affect symbolic representation, service to constituents, and promotion of particular policies. Political ambition may be affected by institutional design and, therefore, may have both direct and indirect impacts on representational style. Models are then tested through a survey of state legislators in 26 states. The survey questionnaire is helpfully included as an appendix. Unfortunately, basic overviews of institutional design features and summaries for each state or groupings of similar states are not included. Instead, the bulk of the book consists of variable descriptions and regression analysis discussion. The robustness of the regression findings are difficult to evaluate because each model includes over 30 independent variables with individual, district, and state-level characteristics. Potentially intriguing findings about legislators' perceptual accuracy and differences in the use of communication tools are somewhat buried within the analysis. The author concludes each results chapter with recommendations on ways to improve democratic representation, which should be viewed as starting points for further research.
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