The Hunting of the Legislative Snark: Information Searches and Reforms in U. S. State Legislatures

Abstract

The search for information within legislatures is metaphorically akin to snark hunting as described by Lewis Carroll, i.e., a hunt in which there is disagreement about the nature of the quarry and the means appropriate to capture it. Information sought in different legislatures varies, as does the means by which information is acquired. We measure the predominant information search patterns in eight state legislatures and relate them to recommendations for improvements in legislative staffing suggested by the legislators. Given assumptions about the personnel, organization, and task or functional costs of providing new staff services, we posit an incremental developmental continuum which arrays the states according to the scope of their internal staffing resources. Staffing reform suggestions within a state cluster at adjacent stages on the continuum; the position of these clusters on the continuum is strongly predicted by the information search pattern currently employed within the legislature.