Research
Articles
Karl T. Kurtz, National Conference of State Legislatures
Gary Moncrief, Boise State University
Richard G. Niemi, University of Rochester
Lynda W. Powell, University of Rochester
Full-Time,
Part-Time, and Real Time: Explaining State Legislators' Perceptions of
Time on the Job
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 parttime 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.
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