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Broad Bills or Particularistic Policy? Historical Patterns in American State Legislatures

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  • GAMM, GERALD
  • KOUSSER, THAD

Abstract

When do lawmakers craft broad policies, and when do they focus on narrow legislation tailored to a local interest? We investigate this question by exploring historical variation in the types of bills produced by American state legislatures. Drawing on a new database of 165,000 bills—covering sessions over 120 years in thirteen different states—we demonstrate the surprising prominence of particularistic bills affecting a specific legislator's district. We then develop and test a theory linking the goals of legislators to their propensity to introduce district bills rather than broad legislation. We find that, consistent with our predictions, politicians are more likely to craft policies targeted to a particular local interest when a legislature is dominated by one party or when it pays its members relatively high salaries. These findings provide empirical support for Key's (1949) thesis that one-party politics descends into factionalism and undermines the making of broad public policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Gamm, Gerald & Kousser, Thad, 2010. "Broad Bills or Particularistic Policy? Historical Patterns in American State Legislatures," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 104(1), pages 151-170, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:104:y:2010:i:01:p:151-170_99
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    Cited by:

    1. Yakovlev, Pavel & Tosun, Mehmet S. & Lewis, William P., 2012. "Legislative Term Limits and State Aid to Local Governments," IZA Discussion Papers 6456, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Troncone, Massimo, 2024. "Poverty, Competition, and Mass Patronage: Evidence from Southern Italy," OSF Preprints rgz9t, Center for Open Science.
    3. Yakovlev, Pavel A. & Tosun, Mehmet S. & Lewis, William P., 2018. "The Fiscal Consequences of State Legislative Term Limits," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 48(3), January.
    4. Richard C. Witmer & Joshua Johnson & Frederick J. Boehmke, 2014. "American Indian Policy in the States," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1043-1063, December.
    5. Goodman, Christopher B, 2019. "State Legislative Ideology & the Preemption of City Ordinances: The Case of Worker Rights Laws," SocArXiv 2mnws, Center for Open Science.
    6. Goodman, Christopher B & Hatch, Megan E. & McDonald, Bruce D. III, 2020. "State Preemption of Local Laws: Origins and Modern Trends," SocArXiv u2f4x, Center for Open Science.
    7. Matsuda, Yasuhiko, 2011. "Ripe for a big bang ? assessing the political feasibility of legislative reforms in the Philippines'local government code," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5792, The World Bank.

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