ABSTRACT This research tests spatial models of electoral competition using survey data on state l... more ABSTRACT This research tests spatial models of electoral competition using survey data on state legislative candidates' policy positions and ideology in eight U.S. states. Our data support several hypotheses: 1) candidates' issue positions do not converge; 2) party elites have more extreme issue positions than candidates do; 3) candidate issue positioning is a function of party-elite issue positions and union involvement in the campaign as well as constituency characteristics; and 4) when candidates rely heavily on elite resources during their campaign, elites become more important in shaping candidate issue positions.
Explanations for election outcomes have commonly included incumbency and candidate quality. While... more Explanations for election outcomes have commonly included incumbency and candidate quality. While these explanations have been successful, they do not wholly explain who wins or loses. To move beyond the concepts of incumbency and quality, a typology of candidates is developed based on their motivations for running. Hierarchical cluster analysis is employed to examine open-ended responses from state legislative candidates in nine states. The resulting typologies are found to be connected to influences ...
The lecture is still one of the staples of university classrooms. Sometimes this is due to the fa... more The lecture is still one of the staples of university classrooms. Sometimes this is due to the fact that this is the only pedagogical device with which some professors are familiar. But sometimes this is due to the subject matter at hand or circumstances beyond our control, such as large class sizes or unaccommodating classroom layouts. In these situations, for many of us, the question then becomes if one is forced to lecture, how can one do this in such a way so as to maximize the effectiveness of lecturing?
In an era of candidate-centered campaigns, valid questions have been raised about the role of sta... more In an era of candidate-centered campaigns, valid questions have been raised about the role of state and local political party organizations. While there is agreement that parties no longer primarily fulfill the function of campaign organization, scholars have noted the impressive ability of these party organizations to adapt to new realities.
Page 1. The Role of Committees in the Legislative Process Prepared for presentation at the 2011 S... more Page 1. The Role of Committees in the Legislative Process Prepared for presentation at the 2011 State Politics and Policy Annual Conference, Hanover, NH Shannon Jenkins Associate Professor, Department of Political Science University of Massachusetts Dartmouth 285 Old Westport Road N. Dartmouth, MA 02474 sjenkins@umassd.edu 508.999.8036 Page 2. 1 Committees are important actors in US state legislatures.
To assess the relative impact of party and ideology on legislative behavior, I utilize survey-bas... more To assess the relative impact of party and ideology on legislative behavior, I utilize survey-based measures of legislator ideology to examine voting in five state legislatures. The results suggest that, although party and ideology both influence voting, the impact of party is greater. The magnitude of this impact varies, however, from chamber to chamber. The activity of parties in the electoral arena explains part of this variance, with more active parties having more influence.
2 The actual amount of tutoring time was slightly less than 50% due to school holidays and vacati... more 2 The actual amount of tutoring time was slightly less than 50% due to school holidays and vacations that did not coincide between the university and the local elementary school. 3 In our department, faculty alternate between a Tuesday/Thursday (TR) schedule and a Monday/Wednesday/Friday (MWF) schedule. As I was on a TR in the spring, I was scheduled for MWF in the fall.
elections. Republicans gained 54 seats in the US House of Representatives and 8 seats in the US S... more elections. Republicans gained 54 seats in the US House of Representatives and 8 seats in the US Senate. Not one single Republican incumbent in the House was defeated, while 34 Democratic incumbents lost. The magnitude of this change is well illustrated by the remarkable transformation in the Washington state delegation, which went from eight Democrats and one Republican to seven Republicans and two Democrats.
Objectives. Conventional wisdom about the link between campaign contributions and roll call votes... more Objectives. Conventional wisdom about the link between campaign contributions and roll call votes is that contributions rarely matter because groups tend to give to like-minded legislators. This meta-analysis examines the conventional wisdom by analyzing published research on this topic. Methods. More than 30 studies are pooled to produce more than 350 individual tests of the contributions-roll call link.
Abstract: This paper presents results of a 2010 survey of 1,215 local party chairs in 49 states. ... more Abstract: This paper presents results of a 2010 survey of 1,215 local party chairs in 49 states. The data focus on local party structure and activity, state-local party integration and party organizational culture. The analysis suggests local parties are organizationally mature, though most have not become permanent work organizations. The activities of local parties have undergone an important shift away from activities related to campaign money and fundraising and toward activities requiring volunteers and labor.
ABSTRACT This research tests spatial models of electoral competition using survey data on state l... more ABSTRACT This research tests spatial models of electoral competition using survey data on state legislative candidates' policy positions and ideology in eight U.S. states. Our data support several hypotheses: 1) candidates' issue positions do not converge; 2) party elites have more extreme issue positions than candidates do; 3) candidate issue positioning is a function of party-elite issue positions and union involvement in the campaign as well as constituency characteristics; and 4) when candidates rely heavily on elite resources during their campaign, elites become more important in shaping candidate issue positions.
Explanations for election outcomes have commonly included incumbency and candidate quality. While... more Explanations for election outcomes have commonly included incumbency and candidate quality. While these explanations have been successful, they do not wholly explain who wins or loses. To move beyond the concepts of incumbency and quality, a typology of candidates is developed based on their motivations for running. Hierarchical cluster analysis is employed to examine open-ended responses from state legislative candidates in nine states. The resulting typologies are found to be connected to influences ...
The lecture is still one of the staples of university classrooms. Sometimes this is due to the fa... more The lecture is still one of the staples of university classrooms. Sometimes this is due to the fact that this is the only pedagogical device with which some professors are familiar. But sometimes this is due to the subject matter at hand or circumstances beyond our control, such as large class sizes or unaccommodating classroom layouts. In these situations, for many of us, the question then becomes if one is forced to lecture, how can one do this in such a way so as to maximize the effectiveness of lecturing?
In an era of candidate-centered campaigns, valid questions have been raised about the role of sta... more In an era of candidate-centered campaigns, valid questions have been raised about the role of state and local political party organizations. While there is agreement that parties no longer primarily fulfill the function of campaign organization, scholars have noted the impressive ability of these party organizations to adapt to new realities.
Page 1. The Role of Committees in the Legislative Process Prepared for presentation at the 2011 S... more Page 1. The Role of Committees in the Legislative Process Prepared for presentation at the 2011 State Politics and Policy Annual Conference, Hanover, NH Shannon Jenkins Associate Professor, Department of Political Science University of Massachusetts Dartmouth 285 Old Westport Road N. Dartmouth, MA 02474 sjenkins@umassd.edu 508.999.8036 Page 2. 1 Committees are important actors in US state legislatures.
To assess the relative impact of party and ideology on legislative behavior, I utilize survey-bas... more To assess the relative impact of party and ideology on legislative behavior, I utilize survey-based measures of legislator ideology to examine voting in five state legislatures. The results suggest that, although party and ideology both influence voting, the impact of party is greater. The magnitude of this impact varies, however, from chamber to chamber. The activity of parties in the electoral arena explains part of this variance, with more active parties having more influence.
2 The actual amount of tutoring time was slightly less than 50% due to school holidays and vacati... more 2 The actual amount of tutoring time was slightly less than 50% due to school holidays and vacations that did not coincide between the university and the local elementary school. 3 In our department, faculty alternate between a Tuesday/Thursday (TR) schedule and a Monday/Wednesday/Friday (MWF) schedule. As I was on a TR in the spring, I was scheduled for MWF in the fall.
elections. Republicans gained 54 seats in the US House of Representatives and 8 seats in the US S... more elections. Republicans gained 54 seats in the US House of Representatives and 8 seats in the US Senate. Not one single Republican incumbent in the House was defeated, while 34 Democratic incumbents lost. The magnitude of this change is well illustrated by the remarkable transformation in the Washington state delegation, which went from eight Democrats and one Republican to seven Republicans and two Democrats.
Objectives. Conventional wisdom about the link between campaign contributions and roll call votes... more Objectives. Conventional wisdom about the link between campaign contributions and roll call votes is that contributions rarely matter because groups tend to give to like-minded legislators. This meta-analysis examines the conventional wisdom by analyzing published research on this topic. Methods. More than 30 studies are pooled to produce more than 350 individual tests of the contributions-roll call link.
Abstract: This paper presents results of a 2010 survey of 1,215 local party chairs in 49 states. ... more Abstract: This paper presents results of a 2010 survey of 1,215 local party chairs in 49 states. The data focus on local party structure and activity, state-local party integration and party organizational culture. The analysis suggests local parties are organizationally mature, though most have not become permanent work organizations. The activities of local parties have undergone an important shift away from activities related to campaign money and fundraising and toward activities requiring volunteers and labor.
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