Contents

Introduction     1

Part 1 Changing Patterns: The Legislators     5

1. State Legislative Careers: Twenty-Five Years of Reform
William Pound     9

2. Nativity, Mobility, and State Legislators
Joel A. Thompson and Gary F. Moncrief     23

3. Minorities in State Legislatures
Charles S. Bullock III     39

4. Female Legislators: Is There a New Type of Woman in Office?
Patricia Freeman and William Lyons     59

Part 2 Changing Patterns in the Electoral Connection     71

5. Electoral Change in U.S. States: Systems Versus Constituency Competition
Harvey J. Tucker and Ronald E. Weber     75

6. Winning Big: The Incumbency Advantage in State Legislative Races
David Breaux and Malcolm Jewell     87

7. Legislative Caucus and Leadership Campaign Committees
Anthony Gierzynski and Malcolm Jewell     107

8. Midsession Vacancies: Why Do State Legislators Exit and How Are They Replaced?
Keith Hamm and David M. Olson     127

Part 3 Careers inside the Legislature     147

9. Accommodating Member Requests in Committee Assignments: Individual-Level Explanations
Ronald Hedlund     149

10. Changing State Legislative Leadership Careers
Peverill Squire     175

11. The Evolution of the State Legislature: Institutional Change and Legislative Careers
Joel A. Thompson and Gary F. Moncrief     195

Appendix. A Note on Term Limits and State Legislatures     207

References     211

Contributors     229

Index     231