Abstract
While legislative polarization at the national level has been carefully examined and largely explained, the causes of polarization in state legislatures have been more elusive. Studies examining factors such as gerrymandering and party primaries as possible explanations have found largely undetectable or at best very modest relationships between these variables and levels of polarization. This paper provides an explanation of state legislative polarization based on socio-economic and demographic factors within the states. Economics and demographics have long played a significant role in understanding party choice, vote choice, the decision to abstain or vote, and support for various policies. Because of this we explore if these factors also influence polarization of state legislatures. Utilizing the Shorr-McCarty polarization data for state legislatures, which provides the differences between the mean Democratic and Republican legislator scores, and controlling for important economic and demographic factors, we explain a significant amount of the polarization existing in state legislatures. These findings present a fascinating look into not only the root causes of polarization in state legislatures, but also point to some fundamental differences in politics and ideology at the state and national levels.
Highlights
It has become a commonly accepted article of faith that there has been an increasing level of polarization between the two major political parties at both the state and national level over the past generation
Overshadowing all of the other findings in this model is the role which income inequality plays in the polarization of state legislatures and its two unique attributes: the size of the coefficient and its direction, both of which were unexpected according to previous research
While it has been well understood that increased levels of income inequality at the national level are a primary driver of polarization between the two major parties; at the state level the opposite is true
Summary
It has become a commonly accepted article of faith that there has been an increasing level of polarization between the two major political parties at both the state and national level over the past generation. Approximately 20 percent concerned naming government facilities such as post offices or hospitals, while many others concerned relatively non-controversial subjects such as appointing regents to the Smithsonian or the size of coins to be produced by the Baseball Hall of Fame (GovTrack.us, ND) This ideological rift between the parties has been blamed for the seeming inability of the legislative branch to pass substantive legislation regarding numerous important issues including debates about national security and civil liberties, the environment, gun control policy, and a host of other issues. The Congress is reaching a state of debilitating paralyses not seen in more than 100 years (Mann & Ornstein, 2008; Mann & Ornstein, 2012)
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