22: Legislative Studies

Thad Kousser, University of California, San Diego, tkousser@ucsd.edu

When “hard times” arrive, they hit legislatures especially hard. Legislators are forced to make difficult choices on fiscal matters, working either with or against an executive when they do so but always facing the challenge of defending these choices to voters. For the 2010 meetings, we welcome proposals to rigorously examine impact of hard times on legislatures. Individually, what determines the choices that legislators make, and how do the tough votes that they cast affect their electoral fortunes? How do legislative and governmental institutions shape the contours and outcomes of these policy debates, and do decisions made in hard times have a reciprocal effect on the shape of institutions? Proposals that take advantage of variation across countries, across time within a single legislature, or across sub-national legislatures will be especially welcome.