29: State Politics and Policy

Richard Fording, University of Kentucky, rford@uky.edu

The theme for this year’s APSA meeting, "The Politics of Hard Times: Citizens, Nations, and the International System under Economic Stress," is of particular relevance to students of state politics and policymaking. Over the last two years, declining state revenues have led to significant budget shortfalls in most states, prompting state governments to respond in a variety of ways that are likely to have a lasting impact on state politics and policy. Of course, the impact of the economy on politics has long interested state politics scholars, and has been at the heart of some of the most important debates in our subfield. As a result, the state politics subfield is particularly poised to offer important insights concerning the implications of the economic crisis on both state and national politics.

Consistent with this year’s theme, I particularly encourage proposals that explore the relationship between economic conditions, state politics and policy. How do economic conditions affect public opinion? Are racial, ethnic, religious, class or gender cleavages heightened during economic downturns? If so, what impact does this have on state politics? How does the economy affect state political campaigns and elections, and which types of candidates and institutions are impacted the most? How have economic cycles affected state policymaking? And finally, how effective are state policies at insulating the most vulnerable populations from the effects of economic downturns? These are just some examples of the ways that state-level analysis might be fruitfully exploited to better understand the impact of economic stress on the political system.

As always, the division also welcomes proposals on topics of general interest to scholars of state politics and policy, including studies of state political institutions, state elections and voting behavior, state interest groups and social movements, direct democracy, the influence of race, ethnicity and gender in state politics, and the determinants or impact of state policymaking. I am especially interested in papers that provide theoretical innovations, deal with challenging data and measurement issues, employ the latest methodological advances, or utilize the analytical advantages of comparative state analysis to address questions that cut across other subfields.