Indecision in American legislatures / Jeffrey J. Harden and Justin H. Kirkland.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harden, Jeffrey J., author.

Kirkland, Justin H., author.

Contributor:

Michigan Publishing (University of Michigan), publisher.

Series:

Legislative politics & policy making.

Legislative politics & policy making

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Legislative bodies--United States.

Legislative bodies.

Legislative bodies--United States--Ethics.

Legislative bodies--United States--States.

United States--Politics and government--Decision making.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (217 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor, Michigan : University of Michigan Press, [2018]

Summary:

Lawmaking provides many opportunities for proposals to be altered, amended, tabled, or stopped completely. The ideal legislator should assess evidence, update his or her beliefs with new information, and sometimes be willing to change course. In practice, however, lawmakers face criticism from the media, the public, and their colleagues for "flip-flopping." Legislators may also only appear to change positions in some cases as a means of voting strategically. This book presents a systematic examination of legislative indecision in American politics. This might occur via "waffling"-where a legislator cosponsors a bill, then votes against it at roll call. Or it might occur when a legislator votes one way on a bill, then switches her vote to the other side. In Indecision in American Legislatures, Jeffrey J. Harden and Justin H. Kirkland develop a theoretical framework to explain indecision itself, as well as the public's attitudes toward indecision. They test their expectations with data sources from American state legislatures, the U.S. Congress, and survey questions administered to American citizens. Understanding legislative indecision from both the legislator and citizen perspectives is important for discussions about the quality of representation in American politics.

Contents:

Open-minded or indecisive?

A theory of legislative indecision

Competing principals and waffling in state legislatures

State-level patterns in waffling

Predicting waffling in state legislatures and the US Congress

A placebo test : vote switching in California

Indecision and representation in American politics.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on information from the publisher.

ISBN:

9780472124268

0472124269

OCLC:

1046189566