The Contract with America and Conditional Party Government in State Legislatures

Abstract

This study tests two theories of legislative leadership by comparing the power of majority-party leaders in states where the Republican Party adopted a state-level version of “The Contract with America” in 1994, with that of leaders in states where no contract was adopted. Using a nationwide survey of legislators to rank power, the study finds that the lower house leaders in contract states were stronger in 1995, as were those from states in which the public was ideologically polarized along partisan lines. The results provide support for conditional party government theory while expanding our knowledge of state legislative politics.