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Measuring State Legislative Professionalism: The Squire Index Revisited

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Peverill Squire
Peverill Squire*
Affiliation:
University of Iowa
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Abstract

In this article, I revisit a widely used measure of legislative professionalism that I developed over a decade ago (Squire 1992a). I argue that professionalism has different implications for legislators than for legislatures and that the concept is distinct from careerism. I then discuss the mechanics of compiling the measure, its reliability and validity, and potential criticism of the measure. Finally, I provide scores on the measure for 1979, 1986, 1996, and 2003, as well as scores for 1979 and 2003 for a revised measure that is theoretically appropriate for use in dynamic analyses.

Type
The Practical Researcher
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , Summer 2007 , pp. 211 - 227
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

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