22. Legislative Studies

Craig Volden, The Ohio State University, volden.2@osu.edu

Legislative politics both reflects and seeks to address societal inequalities.  The 2008 APSA theme of “Categories and the Politics of Global Inequalities” is thus especially relevant to the subject matter of the legislative studies division. The division is particularly interested in papers and panels reflecting this theme. The legislative studies division is also looking for papers that address the array of topics that arise naturally in the study of legislative politics: parties, coalition formation, committees, rule changes, budgets, leadership, chamber floor strategy, elections, and patterns of legislative behavior in a historical context. Comparative studies of state legislatures or national legislatures are encouraged.  Although both panel and individual paper proposals are welcome, individual paper proposals are typically easier to accommodate. We encourage a wide range of methodologies as long as they are used to investigate clearly stated theoretical or empirical puzzles.