David C. Nice

POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN THE AMERICAN STATES

Political corruption is less common in states that have Moralistic political cultures and more educated populations. Contrary to expectations, however, political corruption is not related to crime rates or urbanization.

The Item Veto and Expenditure Restraint

The presidential item veto has been proposed as a solution to the national governments persistent budget deficits. Part of the case for the item veto typically includes reference to its record at the state level. However, systematic analysis of the relationship between state item veto powers and expenditures reveals no evidence that the item veto restrains spending.

State Support for Constitutional Balanced Budget Requirements

Analysis of state passage of legislative resolutions calling for a convention to propose a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution reveals no tendency for states passing the resolutions to have constitutional balanced budget requirements or debt limits of their own. States passing the resolutions tend to have more conservative electorates.

Interest groups and policymaking in the American states

States in which candidates endorsed by liberal interest groups are more successful at the election polls tend to have higher Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) benefits and to enact more consumer protection legislation. In addition, states where interest-group-endorsed candidates are more successful at the polls tend to spend more on highways.

The policy consequences of political corruption

Controversies abound over whether political corruption handicaps the disadvantaged, facilitates government action, or simply inflates government costs. Multivariate analysis using data from the American states supports none of the hypotheses. Rather, corruption appears to have virtually no policy impact, either directly or in interaction with party competition.

Competitiveness in house and senate elections with identical constituencies

The greater competitiveness of Senate elections relative to House elections has been attributed to both constituency and nonconstituency factors. When constituency factors are held constant, House incumbents perform slightly better at the polls than do Senate incumbents. However, the differences between House and Senate incumbents have not increased since 1920. On the contrary, the differences have narrowed somewhat.

State regulation of railroads

Abstract The scope of state authority to regulate railroads tends to be broader in states with relatively concentrated populations and in states where economic sectors likely to ship by rail, especially mining, are relatively small. Regulatory scope is generally not related to the size of the railroad industry, number of railroads, or ideological-cultural factors.

THE STATES AND PASSENGER RAIL SERVICE

Abstract In recent years, a number of states have acted to expand the passenger rail services provided to their citizens by subsidizing Amtrak. Subsidizing states tend to be relatively metropolitan, with large tourist industries, large populations, relatively liberal electorates (for 1980 subsidy decisions), and a history of efforts to protect the environment. Multivariate analysis indicates that population, electoral liberalism, and environmental concern play key roles in shaping subsidy decisions, although electoral liberalism has little influence on 1985 subsidies.

In Retreat from Excellence: The Single Six-Year Presidential Term

Analysis of the effects of the single, six-year term proposal by assessing its probable impact on presidential tenure in the past reveals that it would have reduced the tenure of highly regarded presidents who were relatively successful in dealing with Congress and increased the tenure of presidents with lackluster reputations and limited success in congressional relations. Thus, by inference, the adoption of this widely-touted institutional reform might undermine rather than strengthen presidential leadership in American politics.