The Effect of U. S. State Legislative Term Limits Revisited

Opheim, Cynthia

doi:10.2307/439799

Cited by 24 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Work on the effect of term limits on institutional changes has highlighted the importance of context and suggests that term limits have the greatest effect in the states where they have the potential to make the largest impact. In line with the goals of term limit proponents, research indicates that term limits have a greater effect in strong, professionalized legislatures with low turnover, because these states are the most susceptible to the destabilizing effects of term limits (Kousser 2005;Moncrief et al 1992;Opheim 1994;though, see Farmer et al 2007 for mixed results regarding the effect of term limits at different levels of professionalization across various aspects of legislative politics). Similarly, in their study of leadership power, Little and Farmer (2007) posit that the extent of the detrimental effects of term limits for leadership influence should depend on the characterization of the leadership in that state.…”

Section: The Impact Of Term Limitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In line with the goals of term limit proponents, research indicates that term limits have a greater effect in strong, professionalized legislatures with low turnover, because these states are the most susceptible to the destabilizing effects of term limits (Kousser 2005; Moncrief et al. 1992; Opheim 1994; though, see Farmer et al. 2007 for mixed results regarding the effect of term limits at different levels of professionalization across various aspects of legislative politics).…”

Section: The Impact Of Term Limitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Reexamining the Institutional Effects of Term Limits in U.S. State Legislatures

Miller

Nicholson‐Crotty

2011

Legislative Studies Qtrly

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Research on term limits suggests that they have substantial consequences for the power of legislatures vis‐à‐vis the executive and interest groups and for the relationship between leaders and rank‐and‐file members within a chamber. Existing work, however, has not accounted for the actual power of relevant state actors. We contribute to this research by examining the effect of term limits on the influence of institutional actors conditional on the existing political power structure in a state. The inclusion of controls for the direct and moderating effect of actual institutional power suggests some significant extensions of previous findings regarding the institutional effects of term limits.

show abstract

Section: The Impact Of Term Limitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Impact Of Term Limitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reexamining the Institutional Effects of Term Limits in U.S. State Legislatures

Miller

Nicholson‐Crotty

2011

Legislative Studies Qtrly

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Proponents of term limits suggest that turnover will increase considerably, but their predictions are colored by their preferences; in any event, they are not specific about numbers or percentages. Some political scientists-notably Moncrief, Thompson, Haddon, and Hoyer (1992), Opheim (1994), and Francis and Kenney (1997)-have made more careful predictions. Although their models are a considerable improvement, they are general models that do not incorporate all of the variants of term limits that have now been enacted.…”

Section: Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time, Term Limits, and Turnover: Trends in Membership Stability in U.S. State Legislatures

Moncrief

Niemi

Powell

2004

Legislative Studies Qtrly

109

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Increases in legislative professionalization along with the implementation of term limits in about one-third of the American states raise significant questions about the path of state house and senate turnover. We first update turnover figures for all states, by chamber, from the mid-1980s through 2002. We then compare turnover rates in states with and without term limits. We find that turnover rates, overall, continued to decline through the 1980s but that the long downward trend abated in the 1990s as a result of term limits. The effects of term limits vary depending on the length of the term limit and the opportunity structure in the state. There is also a strong relationship between the presence of term limits and interchamber movement. In addition to term limits, professionalization levels, redistricting, the presence of multi-member districts, and partisan swings explain differences in turnover rates between states

show abstract

“…Issues surrounding incentives and costs are often discussed in terms of legislative professionalism (Kurtz 1992;Mooney 1995;Rosenthal 1998;Squire 1992). Legislative turnover tends to be lower and average tenure greater in professional state legislatures than in part-time, citizen legislatures (Brace and Ward 1999;Moncrief et al 1992;Opheim 1994). Therefore, it is unlikely that the consequences of term limits will be the same in professional and citizen state legislatures.…”

Section: Term Limits Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Outside Looking In: Lobbyists' Perspectives on the Effects of State Legislative Term Limits

Moncrief¹,

Thompson²

2001

State Politics Policy Q.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Term limit laws for state legislators now exist in 19 states. While these laws were passed as early as 1990, they have only recently actually forced legislators from office. Prior to the 2000 elections, only two states (California and Maine) had experienced virtually complete legislative turnover in at least one chamber as a result of term limits. Nine other states have had at least one cohort of legislators forced out of office. Now that a significant portion of these legislative bodies has been replaced by term limits, we can begin to examine the consequences of this reform. We report findings from a survey of lobbyists in five term-limits states. We find strong consensus among these lobbyists that term limits have caused the state political influence structure to shift away from the legislature and toward the governor, administrative agencies, and interest groups. With regard to the impact on internal operations and procedures of the legislature, we discover considerable variation across states, variation that, in part, is related to legislative professionalism.

show abstract

The Effect of U. S. State Legislative Term Limits Revisited

Cited by 24 publications

References 2 publications

Reexamining the Institutional Effects of Term Limits in U.S. State Legislatures

Reexamining the Institutional Effects of Term Limits in U.S. State Legislatures

Time, Term Limits, and Turnover: Trends in Membership Stability in U.S. State Legislatures

On the Outside Looking In: Lobbyists' Perspectives on the Effects of State Legislative Term Limits

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About