Patricia K. Freeman

Interest Group Activity in the States

This paper utilizes a survey of 595 state lobbyists and 301 state organizations to address four questions about interest group activity in the states: (1) What techniques do groups in the states use? (2) How much do groups in the states do? (3) How do techniques differ across group types? (4) What types of groups are most active in the states? The data suggest that techniques do not differ much across group types; that, contrary to the subgovernment model, very few groups and lobbyists exhibit specialization between or within branches of state government; and that most groups take an interest in a large number of policy proposals However, it appears that groups, though they monitor a large number of policy proposals, are inactive advocates on the vast majority of bills before the state legislature Ironically, we believe that one result of all this group activity may be a tilting of the locus of power in state politics toward elected and appointed officials and away from interest groups.

Gender Differences in Constituency Service Among State Legislators

Do female state legislators differ from men in constituency service? Using a four-state survey of state legislators, we find that women receive more casework requests, are twice as likely to believe that they perform more casework than their state colleagues, and are three times more likely to agree that they would perform more casework if additional staff were available, even after controlling for a variety of other explanations. These findings support the sex role socialization literature that argues that interpersonal relations figure more predominantly in the motives of female officeholders than for men.

A Strategy for Measuring the Performance of Legislatures in Processing Decisions

Using organization theory, this study develops and tests a strategy for measuring legislative performance in processing decisions. Data collected from Iowa and Wisconsin for a twelve-year period show that variables representing different organizational attributes-personnel, technology and product use, structure, and task division-explain modest proportions of this type of legislative performance. Although this is an exploratory study because of its limited scope and small number of cases, the findings suggest that further work using this strategy may prove useful.

The Functions of Committee Change in State Legislatures

Little research has focused on the changes made in individual legislative committees through time. In this study we do a committee-by-committee analysis to determine the extent to which various committees were added, dropped, or had jurisdictional change in each chamber of eighteen states over a twenty-year period (1971-91). Using propositions adopted from organizational theory, we predict that committees are altered to help the legislature respond to both exter nal pressures and internal tensions. Two types of data are used to test our hypotheses: a longitudinal analysis of committee listings for each of the eighteen study states and individual level committee request data from four states. We find that professionalized legislatures make more committee changes and exhibit more commonality in the types of changes made than nonprofessional legislatures. The committees dropped in legislatures are requested less than the committees added. These findings reinforce the conclusions of others that committees have political as well as policy-making functions. While the stability of professional legislatures has been emphasized, our findings point to the adaptive function of organizational change.

E-mail Contact between Constituents and State Legislators

There has been much discussion about how the use of technology has changed the way in which we do business. With the introduction of eBay and other Internet shopping sites and the adoption and prolific use of e-mail by citi? zens to correspond with family, friends, and government officials, we have entered a new era in interpersonal relations and communi? cation. This phenomenon raises many ques? tions about how public officials will use this technology to serve the people. Do govern? ment agencies and legislatures have the abil? ity to stay abreast of these advancements? Will certain segments of the population lose their ability to influence and/or benefit from the political system? Will the utilization of electronic communication result in higher de? mands on legislators for constituency service? Dahl (1989) predicted that telecommuni? cations technology would change the demo? cratic process. A more recent study, com? missioned by the Twentieth Century Fund, suggested that computer technology will sig? nificantly alter the way in which Americans communicate with their elected representa? tives (Grossman 1995). Anecdotal evidence indicates that constituent-representative re? lations have been affected by new technol? ogy. For example, several states report that when controversial legislation has been un? der discussion, legislators have been deluged by e-mail messages (Boulard 1998). How? ever, there has been little systematic analysis of how e-mail is being used in the public

Issue salience and gender differences in congressional elections, 1994–1998

Abstract We examine how male and female voters differ in their use of issue salience in congressional voting. We use American National Election Survey (ANES) data for 1994, 1996, and 1998 to construct a multivariate model of gender differences in partisan voting in U.S. House races. We use four categories of independent variables: demographics, ideology, economic evaluations, and issue positions. A logistic regression for each election, by sex, was tested. Our results suggest that although there are similarities in how issues are politicized in presidential and congressional voting decisions, the patterns are not identical. Second, issue salience is not uniform across elections. Third, women are slightly more likely to attach greater weight to economic evaluations and social spending. Fourth, there is only weak evidence that group identity influences women’s congressional voting. Finally, we find that men focused on the Clinton scandal in 1998, but women also used other issues in choosing how to vote.

Innovation A doption in an Urban Setting An Application of Downs and Mohr's Methodological Prescriptions

In 1976, George Downs and Lawrence Mohr published an article explaining the potential causes of the inconsistency of findings in innovation research. The article was widely quoted and many researchers incorporated some of the suggestions in their research designs. Other researchers, however, were highly critical of the methodological prescriptions. The research presented in this article tested the Downs and Mohr methodological prescriptions. The findings substantiate the distinctions that Downs and Mohr make regarding the primary attributes of both organizations and innovations, support the use of interactive models, and validate the substantial contributions of the innovation-decision design to innovation research.

Overcoming the problems of variable interaction: Notes regarding empirical and conceptual issues in innovation theory building

Innovation research has been characterized by findings which are either considered unstable or inconsistent. This article addresses some of the methodological issues that arise when one attempts to test interactive models of innovation, describes how one particular algorithm — AID-3 — can be used to refine the use of general linear models, and proposes a research strategy based on a building mode of innovation theory. As such it functions as a “how to” for those interested in designing innovation studies and also as a theoretical piece aimed at re-organizing the goals and outputs of innovation research.

Belonging, Believing, Behaving: The Religious Character of Public Servants

How do public servants compare to the general public in their religious affiliation, beliefs, and behaviors? Using data from the 2004 General Social Survey, we compare public servants in government and outside government to the general public through a series of logistic regression models. Although there is little difference in terms of denominational affiliation, public servants have a stronger commitment to, and are more active in, their religious communities. The implications of these findings for public administration are discussed.