State Legislative Leaders' Contacts with National Legislative Organizations: Differences in Cosmopolitanism, Resources, and Political Environments

Abstract

This paper examines possible relationships between state legislative leaders' contacts with national professional organizations, such as the Council of State Governments, and indicators of differences in cosmopolitanism, in‐state information resources, and political environments. The findings suggest that leaders in states with unified party control of the executive and legislative institutions are more involved with national organizations than leaders from states with divided party control. However, there are no significant differences in involvement among leaders in terms of other party measures: whether they are Democrats or Republicans, majority or minority leaders, institutional or party leaders, or the degree of inter‐party competition in their legislative chambers. Additionally, leaders from small states with fewer in‐state information resources and those from more cosmopolitan urban or moralistic political culture states are more intensively involved with national organizations.