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Full-Time, Part-Time, and Real Time: Explaining State Legislators' Perceptions of Time on the Job

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Karl T. Kurtz ,
Gary Moncrief ,
Richard G. Niemi  and
Lynda W. Powell
Karl T. Kurtz
Affiliation:
National Conference of State Legislatures
Gary Moncrief
Affiliation:
Boise State University
Richard G. Niemi
Affiliation:
University of Rochester
Lynda W. Powell
Affiliation:
University of Rochester
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Abstract

One of the oldest and most distinctive characteristics of American political culture is its anti-government, anti-politician bias. One manifestation of this attitude in state government today is the effort to maintain part-time “citizen” legislatures, whether through term limits, low salaries, or session length restrictions. But, realistically, how part-time is the job of a state legislator? We discuss findings from a national survey of state legislators in which they report spending more time on the job than one might anticipate given the presumably part-time nature of many state legislatures. As expected, we find that legislators serving in bodies characterized as full-time, professional legislatures spend more time on the job than those in part-time institutions, but we also see significant variation across states in both groups. We also find considerable variation among individual legislators, which is related to factors such as holding a leadership position and a legislator's demographic characteristics. We also show how time on the job is allocated among specific components of representation.

Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 6 , Issue 3 , Fall 2006 , pp. 322 - 338
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

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