Election Administration Professionalization Index: 2020 Update and Correlates

• In Event: Constraints on Election Administration

Abstract

The professionalization of a field typically brings an increase in knowledge, standardization of practices, systems improvement, and increased information sharing (Berman 1999; Berman 2006; Berman and Wang 2000; Rainey and Steinbauer 1994). Professionalization in turn gives administrators greater influence in shaping practice and future policy (Hale 2011). Election administration as a field has become increasingly professionalized since in the 1970s, and these efforts gained significant speed following the 2000 election (Fischer and Coleman 2008; Hale and Brown 2016; Hale, Montjoy and Brown 2015). In this paper, we extend our 2016 professionalization index (Hale and Brown 2020), developing a parallel index for 2020 as well as a second version that expands the factors used to develop the index. The 2020 data show that the measures are largely stable but with some small changes reflecting reflecting shifts the current landscape. We then model the relationship between professionalization and state level factors that influence it and test the effects of state level variations in professionalization on election policy, practice, and outcomes.

Authors

• Mitchell Brown, Auburn University

• Kathleen Hale, Auburn University

• Joseph Anthony, Oklahoma State University