Journal ArticleDOI
Competition, Constituencies, and Welfare Policies in American States*
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The authors examine the logic underlying standard formulations of the interparty competition hypothesis in the comparative state policy literature and suggest a reformulation which provides some new insights into the conditions under which we might expect state policies to change as a result of party characteristics.Abstract:
This article examines the logic underlying standard formulations of the interparty competition hypothesis in the comparative state policy literature, suggests a reformulation which provides some new insights into the conditions under which we might expect state policies to change as a result of party characteristics, and undertakes an initial test of the reformulation.I develop two propositions. The first is that party systems which divide the electorate along economic class lines will generate more generous welfare policies than party systems which do not so organize the electorate. The second is that within states with class-based electoral systems, change in welfare policy will be positively related to the degree to which the party or faction with lower- and working-class support gains control of government.I analyze welfare policies of selected American states for the period 1938 to 1970. My analysis suggests that (1) the class basis of electoral politics does influence state welfare policies and (2) parties and factions which differ in their constituency bases produce different types of policies when they are in control of government.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
The Policy Consequences of Class Bias in State Electorates
Kim Quaile Hill,Jan E. Leighley +1 more
TL;DR: This paper found a consistent negative relationship between the degree of class bias favoring the upper class and the generosity of state social welfare spending, and they also found that it is the underrepresentation of the poor, rather than the overrepresenting of the wealthy, that principally explains this relationship.
Journal ArticleDOI
Political Parties, Public Opinion, and State Policy in the United States
TL;DR: The authors found little correlation between state opinion and party control of the state legislature or between party control and state policy when comparing states in the United States and found that state opinion influences the ideological positions of state parties, and parties' responsiveness to state opinion helps to determine their electoral success.
Journal ArticleDOI
Regulatory Enforcement in a Federalist System
John T. Scholz,Feng Heng Wei +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, a regression analysis of annual enforcement data from 1976 through 1983 for all 50 states indicates that even the relatively isolated enforcement procedures of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration respond significantly to state-level political and task differences.
Journal ArticleDOI
A Politico-Economic Theory of Income Redistribution
TL;DR: The authors proposed a testable theory of income redistribution and applied it to data from the American states, and found significant links between the guarantee and both observable explanatory variables, such as per-capita income, and latent constructs such as liberal party control.
Journal ArticleDOI
Institutions, the Economy, and the Dynamics of State Elections
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate institutionalization's effects on the vulnerability of state elections to major periodic forces (coattails, turnout, and economic conditions) and how political responsibility for economic growth is apportioned between presidents and governors in state elections.
References
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Book
An Economic Theory of Democracy
TL;DR: Downs presents a rational calculus of voting that has inspired much of the later work on voting and turnout as discussed by the authors, particularly significant was his conclusion that a rational voter should almost never bother to vote.
Book
Statistical abstract of the United States
TL;DR: The Red River of the North basin of the Philippines was considered a part of the Louisiana Purchase by the United States Department of Commerce in the 1939 Census Atlas of the United Philippines as discussed by the authors.
Book
Southern Politics in State and Nation
TL;DR: Key's book explains party alignments within states, internal factional competition, and the influence of the South upon Washington as discussed by the authors, and also probes the nature of the electorate, voting restrictions, and political operating procedures.
Journal ArticleDOI
Inter-Party Competition, Economic Variables, and Welfare Policies in the American States
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the relationship between political processes and the policies adopted by political systems using the American states as the units for investigation, and found the relationship among inter-party competition, the presence of certain economic factors, and the extent of nine public welfare policies.