State Legislative Reform: Determinants and Policy Consequences

This research is designed to answer the question-what social, economic, and political factors lead to variations in state legislative professionalism and capability, and what impact do these variations have on state public policy? Using a causal model with multiple measures of the concepts and a multiple-partial correlation technique, it is found that legislative reform is not directly related to socioeconomic change and inequality; rather the relationship is mediated by executive reform. In addition, the effects of these environ mental forces on certain policies are mediated by executive and legislative characteristics of the states.