Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This research expands upon prior examinations on the effects of institutions on political participation and focuses specifically on two particular features of state legislative branches – the ratio of state legislators to citizens and state legislative professionalism. I theorize that legislator to citizens ratios increase the probability of contact and access to representatives, which could engender positive feelings of efficacy, ease the costs of participation, and serve as cues to participate in politics. This examination also seeks to resolve findings on state legislative professionalism that contradicts prior work on voting behavior. It is also tested if states with moderate levels of legislative professionalism combined with competitive elections will be a significant positive predictor of voter turnout at the state-level. I find that state legislative to citizen ratios significantly increase voter turnout at the state-level by an average of 1.7 percent, and while high levels of state legislative professionalism decreases voter turnout, moderate levels combined with competitive elections also increases voter turnout. These findings help expand upon prior research which illustrates that political activities, indeed, are in part, dependent upon state institutional characteristics.