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Objectives. Research on the link between descriptive and substantive representation has focused almost exclusively on women and African Americans. In the last two decades, Latino representation in state legislatures has more than doubled, yet scholars have only begun to examine the policy interests and legislative success of these legislators. The objectives of this study are to test a descriptive representation model, in which the ethnicity of the legislator influences legislative behavior even after accounting for the ethnic composition of the district, and to examine ethnic differences in legislative success.Methods. Multivariate regression analyses are used to examine the effect of legislator ethnicity and district composition on bill sponsorship, committee service, and bill passage in seven U.S. legislatures.Results. I find that both constituency composition and the ethnicity of the legislator influence legislative behavior. The success of measures sponsored by Latino legislators varies substantially across states.Conclusions. I conclude that both the ethnicity of the legislator and the composition of the district influence legislative behavior and success. There is clear support for a descriptive representation model of agenda setting, particularly on issues involving immigration. However, this link between descriptive and substantive varies substantially by political context.

Objectives: Research on the link between descriptive and substantive representation has focused almost exclusively on women and African Americans. In the last two decades, Latino representation in state legislatures has more than doubled, yet scholars have only begun to examine the policy interests and legislative success of these legislators. The objectives of this study are to test a descriptive representation model, in which the ethnicity of the legislator influences legislative behavior even after accounting for the ethnic composition of the district, and to examine ethnic differences in legislative success. Methods: Multivariate regression analyses are used to examine the effect of legislator ethnicity and district composition on bill sponsorship, committee service, and bill passage in seven U.S. legislatures. Results: I find that both constituency composition and the ethnicity of the legislator influence legislative behavior. The success of measures sponsored by Latino legislators varies substantially across states. Conclusions: I conclude that both the ethnicity of the legislator and the composition of the district influence legislative behavior and success. There is clear support for a descriptive representation model of agenda setting, particularly on issues involving immigration. However, this link between descriptive and substantive varies substantially by political context. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

Objectives: Research on the link between descriptive and substantive representation has focused almost exclusively on women and African Americans. In the last two decades, Latino representation in state legislatures has more than doubled, yet scholars have only begun to examine the policy interests and legislative success of these legislators. The objectives of this study are to test a descriptive representation model, in which the ethnicity of the legislator influences legislative behavior even after accounting for the ethnic composition of the district, and to examine ethnic differences in legislative success. Methods: Multivariate regression analyses are used to examine the effect of legislator ethnicity and district composition on bill sponsorship, committee service, and bill passage in seven U.S. legislatures. Results: I find that both constituency composition and the ethnicity of the legislator influence legislative behavior. The success of measures sponsored by Latino legislators varies substantially across states. Conclusions: I conclude that both the ethnicity of the legislator and the composition of the district influence legislative behavior and success. There is clear support for a descriptive representation model of agenda setting, particularly on issues involving immigration. However, this link between descriptive and substantive varies substantially by political context. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

I examine the relationship between increasing gender and racial diversity within legislatures and agenda setting and find important differences within and across minority groups (i.e., Blacks and women). Increasing gender diversity among Democrats is associated with an overall increase in the number of women's interests measures introduced; the opposite effect is observed for Republicans. Increasing racial diversity among Democrats is associated with a transference phenomenon in which White legislators introduce fewer Black interest measures, and Black legislators share the role of bringing Black interests to the agenda. Moreover, evidence exists that increasing racial diversity among Democrats is associated with a higher number of bills sponsored by Republicans that are contrary to Black interests and with fewer such bills sponsored by Democrats. I conclude that although increasing diversity can be accompanied by an increased attention to group interests, it is important to take into account partisan differences and differences between minority groups.

According to theories of retrospective voting, voters hold an incumbent administration responsible for problems or achievements that occur during its term. During the Reagan administrations, the deficit was one such problem. In this article, the interplay between the deficit issue and the voting decision is investigated. The major findings of this study are the following: (a) The deficit was a salient issue in 1988, and for many voters it was the most important problem facing the nation; (b) voters recognized that the deficit was a Reagan-era phenomenon; (c) an individual's perception of which party was better able to solve the deficit problem strongly influenced the vote; (d) many thought the Republican Party would better manage the deficit issue in the future. Thus Republicans suffered very little at the ballot box as a result of the issue. Future refinements of retrospective-voting theory must take into account this failure to hold the incumbent party accountable for problems encountered during its term.

Under what circumstances do men sponsor issues that are traditionally regarded as salient primarily to women? By examining the sponsorship of legislation in the upper and lower chambers of 15 state legislatures in 2001, we explored the conditions under which men are likely to focus attention on policy areas involving women's issues and children's issues. We found little effect of institutional context (such as party control of the legislature or diversity within the legislature) on the sponsorship behavior of either men or women. Personal characteristics such as race, education, age, and family circumstances are associated with sponsorship by men, but not by women. Committee service is also strongly associated with sponsorship behavior, particularly for men. Differences in sponsorship are relatively marked in the sponsorship of legislation that focuses on reproduction or other health issues particularly relevant to women. We conclude that the boundaries of the set of issues traditionally defined as "women's issues" may be changing over time and that it is important to recognize that the influences on the sponsorship of women's issues can be different for men than they are for women.

In this study, we explore the determinants of cosponsorship activity within state legislatures. Utilizing a social dynamic framework, we develop and test a model of the interplay of the activities of sponsorship and cosponsorship that includes both individual‐level and social network characteristics as determinants of agenda‐setting behavior; the latter demonstrating how collaboration and mutual interests shape the agenda‐setting process. We find several consistent factors that influence the frequency of cosponsorship activity: (1) ideological distance, (2) proximity of legislators' districts, (3) homophily (similar characteristics such as race, gender, and ethnicity), and (4) transitivity (the idea that friends of my friends are also my friends).

State institutions have assumed increasingly important roles in policymaking. Moreover, prior research indicates that judicial experience has emerged as a particularly important factor in nomination to the federal courts. Despite these developments, justices from state Supreme Courts are not often nominated to the federal judiciary. This article identifies the factors that influence the nomination of state Supreme Court justices to the federal courts. The results indicate that partisan alignment between the nominee, senators, and president is a critical factor in nomination. Age is also a significant factor in predicting nomination; a justice's likelihood of being nominated peaks in her early 50s. Moreover, state high court justices who serve on relatively prestigious courts or have considerable seniority are less likely to be nominated to the federal courts thereby suggesting that visibility may not be an asset to state justices wishing to move to the federal courts.