Parties, Institutions, and Polarization in American State Politics

Session Submission Type: In-Person Created Panel

Session Description

Unified, programmatic, and polarized political parties are a hallmark of modern-day American politics, animating studies of representation, policymaking, political identification, and more. But while increasing partisan unity and polarization have undoubtedly influenced politics in all 50 states, across-state differences in agenda-setting institutions, electoral rules, political histories, legislature structure, and other factors generate important differences across the states. The papers in this panel investigate which factors encourage (and discourage) party unity, polarization, and legislative gridlock in state legislatures, with a special focus on the influence of institutional features in encouraging or resisting the pressures of parties and polarization.

Over the course of the panel, the authors explore the path from elections to public policy through legislative institutions. In “Unequal Pathways,” Kistner explores how campaign finance influences patterns of party influence and power within a legislature. Kaslovsky and Olson examine how legislature size -- which influences both the connection between constituent and representative and legislative organization -- affects patterns in roll call voting. Focusing more directly on electoral institutions themselves, Phillips tests a theory connecting electoral rules to differential levels of partisan polarization across U.S. states over time. Finally, Howard and Provins explore the importance of the interaction between legislative rules and party control in the production of public policy.

Taken together, these papers provide important and far-reaching information about how political institutions may either resist or exacerbate the challenges presented by partisan unity and polarization in U.S. legislative politics.

Sub Unit

• Division 29: State Politics and Policy

Individual Presentations

• Unequal Pathways to Power: How Caucus Fundraising Systems Shape Representation - Michael Kistner, University of Houston

• Legislature Size and Party Unity (Pre-Recorded) - Jaclyn Kaslovsky, Rice University; Michael P. Olson, Washington University in St. Louis

• State Political Context and State Legislative Polarization - Connor Halloran Phillips, Harvard University

• Policymaking in the States: An Examination of Rules Governing Policy Progression - Tessa Provins, University of Pittsburgh; Nicholas Howard, Auburn University at Montgomery

Chair

• Michael P. Olson Washington University in St. Louis

Discussants

• Jesse M. Crosson Trinity University

• Justin Kirkland University of Virginia