background this paper investigates whether state legislators find testimony influential, to what extent testimony influences policy-makers’ decisions, and defines the features of testimony important in affecting policy-makers’ decisions.   methods we used a mixed method approach to analyze responses from 862 state-level legislators in the united states (u.s.). data were collected via a phone su...

Colleagues, legislative staff, interest groups, administrative agencies, universities and think tanks, the media, and constituents are some of the more commonly recognized sources of information for state legislators. Results of a survey of 507 legislators in 12 U.S. states reveal that ethnic associations, grassroots organizations, the Internet, local branches of national or state organizations...

We report on legislators' attitudes and experiences regarding tobacco and tobacco control using findings from a 1996/97 telephone survey of provincial and territorial legislators in Canada. Across all jurisdictions, legislators showed support for a number of tobacco control policies and for a major government role in implementing programs and policies to discourage youth from smoking. Further, ...

We contribute to the understanding of political inequality in the U.S. by investigating whether state legislators are less responsive to requests for help with registering to vote made by blacks relative to identical requests made by whites. To answer this question we conducted a field experiment in October 2008 where approximately 6,000 state legislators were e-mailed. In the experiment we ran...

We show how preferred committee assignments act as an electoral subsidy for members of Congress—empowering representatives’ legislative careers. When holding preferred assignments, legislators are free to focus on legislative activity in Washington, DC. But when the subsidy is removed, legislators are forced to direct attention to the district. To test our theory of legislative subsidy, we expl...

E-mail has changed the policy process in state legislatures because political actors now have a new way to present their message to state legislators. What little research has been conducted on this topic examines e-mail communication generally and does not compare results by policy actor. Using an original survey of state legislators in eight states, we test for systematic effects of variables...

This paper investigates the e¤ect of applying gender quotas on policy decisions. I …rst examine the e¤ect of gender quotas on the representation of female legislators, study the correlation between gender quotas and di¤erent types of government expenditures, and then use quotas as an instrument for the proportion of female legislators to investigate the e¤ect of female legislators on policy out...