Measuring the Power of the Top Leader of State Senates

• In Event: Parties and Leaders in US State Legislatures

Abstract

Several metrics have been developed measuring the power of state Speakers (e.g. Battista 2011, Clucas 2001, Mooney 2013, Richman 2010). In this paper I apply Mooney’s 2013 methodology to state senates, drawing on data from the Book of States to develop a new numerical measure of the formal power of the top leader elected by each state senate (either president or president pro-tem). I then use this measure to test hypotheses explaining the causes of variation in influence of legislative leaders. I find partial evidence for conditional party government theory, showing that polarized Senate parties are more likely to grant their top elected leader greater influence. However, I also find that two other factors, chamber professionalism and constitutional power sharing arrangements with the Lieutenant Governor, each have an independent effect on the formal power of the top elected senate leader. These findings have implications for understanding leader influence in state senates, as well as the broader applicability of theories of legislative leadership.

Author

• Matthew N. Green, Catholic University of America