Award Date

1-1-2008

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Political Science

First Committee Member

David Fott

Number of Pages

136

Abstract

This thesis seeks to improve our understanding of the relationship between state legislative professionalism and direct democracy. Using institutionalist theory as a framework, I employ negative binomial regression to measure frequency changes in statewide ballot initiatives (1990-2000) as a function of state legislative professionalism. I find that increased professionalism is associated with higher levels of ballot initiatives appearing on statewide ballots, after controlling for qualification difficulty, interest group strength, divided government, and demographic variables. While the conclusions may not provide insight as to the long-term (or short-term, for that matter) quality of the initiatives or referenda, they do provide insight as to when the citizenry is more likely to eschew one fundamental component of American government---representative democracy---in favor of what has quickly become another important component of American government---direct democracy.

Keywords

Democracy; Direct; Legislatures; Matter; Professionalism; State

Controlled Subject

Political science; Public administration

File Format

pdf

File Size

2478.08 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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