Showing 1 – 13 of 13 results.
Curated
Partially restricted
2002 State Legislative Survey (ICPSR 20960)
Released/updated on: 2008-03-25
Geographic coverage: United States
This survey of state legislators updates and expands the 1995 Carey, Niemi, and Powell survey, STATE LEGISLATIVE SURVEY AND CONTEXTUAL DATA, 1995: [UNITED STATES] (ICPSR 3021), which asked many of the same questions. Questionnaires were mailed to all 7,430 state legislators (50 states, 99 chambers) in February 2002, with follow-up letters in March and May of the same year. State legislators were surveyed on the importance of various factors in learning how to do their job, the importance of various sources of information available to them, whether they had authored any bills that became law during their most recent term, whether they specialized in single policy areas, and how much time they spent on legislative duties and tasks. Opinions were sought on the relative influence of party leaders and staff, among others, in determining legislative outcomes, and how much attention party leaders should give to various duties. Additional questions asked whether respondents followed their conscience or the wishes of their constituency when making decisions, the political views of their constituency, and which groups they considered to be their strongest supporters. Information was also collected on opposition candidates, vote percentages, campaign expenditures, previously held public and appointed offices, and future political aspirations. Demographic information includes sex, race, household income, religious preference, political party affiliation, and political philosophy.
Curated
Attitudes of American State Legislators, 1975 (ICPSR 8161)
Released/updated on: 1992-02-16
This data collection focuses on state legislators' attitudes towards political corruption. The first wave of interviewing started in October 1975. The survey consisted of items concerning general attitudes about political corruption as well as questions designed to assess the likelihood of the occurrence of political corruption at various levels of government. In addition, state legislators were asked to evaluate the extent to which particular types of activities were corrupt. For some of these activities, legislators were asked to assess the frequency of occurrence within their own legislative setting. The survey instrument also contained questions about current social and political issues. Standard demographic variables such as age, sex, and education and other background variables such as party identification and district information were included as well.
Curated
Partially restricted
Simple Crosstabs
Candidates for Office: Beliefs and Strategies, 1964 (ICPSR 34101)
Released/updated on: 2014-08-08
Geographic coverage: United States, Wisconsin
This study is based on face-to-face interviews with Wisconsin candidates, both winners and losers in the general election, running for various offices in 1964. Half of the sample is composed of a census of all 1964 Wisconsin candidates for the United States Congress and statewide elective office. The other half is a stratified random sample of candidates for the state legislature (both senate and assembly), chosen to equal in number the number of congressional and statewide candidates. The stratification is by geography in the state of Wisconsin.
For more information on the study, including detailed sampling and method information, please refer to Kingdon, J.W. (1968). Candidates for office: Beliefs and strategies. New York: Random House.
Curated
Congressional Attitudes Toward Congressional Organization (ICPSR 7001)
Released/updated on: 2006-01-18
Geographic coverage: United States
This data collection contains information on the opinions of United States congressmen and women on their roles in Congress, the roles and functions of Congress, congressional organizations and procedures, and the problems and effectiveness of Congress. Three general types of respondents were interviewed: general, leader, and top leader respondents. Respondents were asked about their position on various proposals for congressional reorganization, such as the use of electronic voting devices, four-year terms of office, and year-long congressional sessions, and their opinions on the likelihood of these proposals being adopted. Other items probed their views on issues such as the protection of minority interests, party bloc vote, moral-based decisions, rule of the majority, equality of Congress and the Executive branch, party compromise, degree of influence of lobbyists, and pressing congressional problems. Demographic items specify age, occupation, education, previous political experience, political party affiliation, length of service in Congress, congressional leadership position, ranks, and committee membership and functions, as well as voting records, constituency characteristics by region and district, percentage of total party unity votes, conservative coalition support, and bipartisan support.
Curated
Partially restricted
Simple Crosstabs
Congressmen's Voting Decisions, 1969 (ICPSR 33301)
Released/updated on: 2014-04-16
Geographic coverage: District of Columbia, United States
The core of this data collection is a set of interviews with a stratified random sample of members of the House conducted during the first session of the Ninety-First Congress in 1969. Rather than asking respondents in general about how they make decisions, the interviews concentrated on some specific vote or votes that were currently or very recently under consideration. The interview sought to develop a life history of each member's decision, including the steps through which the representative went, the considerations which he weighted, and the political actors who influenced him. These interview data were supplemented by a good deal of immersion in the process: repeated conversations with staff, lobbyists, and journalists, the reading of documents, and observations of committee meetings and floor debates.
Each of the sampled members was interviewed several times during the course of the session on different votes. It should be emphasized that the unit of analysis is the decision, not the congressman, or in other words, the number of representatives multiplied by the number of decisions on which each was interviewed. All interviews were conducted face-to-face in Washington D.C. in 1969. To minimize recall deficiencies, respondents were interviewed at the time of the vote or within the following few days.
For more information on the study, including detailed sampling and method information, please refer to Kingdon, J.W. (1989). Congressman's voting decisions. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Curated
Daily Operation of the United States Senate, 1975 (ICPSR 7512)
Released/updated on: 2006-01-18
Geographic coverage: United States
This data collection contains descriptions of legislative activity in the United States Senate during the First Session of the Ninety-fourth Congress (1975). The four data files were obtained from the Government Division of the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress. Part 1 contains information on bills and resolutions considered, including the type of measure, the date and number of subcommittee hearings about it, and the actions taken on it. Part 2 describes committee activities, including detailed information about every committee meeting held, e.g., dates and times, open or closed, purpose(s) of meeting, subject area covered, and number and type of witnesses appearing before each. Part 3 contains information about the Senate floor sessions, including times of convening and adjourning and number of record and quorum votes taken. Part 4 contains records of the committee and subcommittee assignments of all Senators and the factors influencing those assignments, e.g., each Senator's Senate leadership position, state seniority, Senate seniority in years, party affiliation, party seniority in years, state population in the thousands, prior occupation, and former public office held.
Curated
Diffusion of Public Policy Innovation Among the American States (ICPSR 66)
Released/updated on: 1992-02-16
Geographic coverage: North Carolina, Indiana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Montana, Kentucky, California, Kansas, Florida, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Iowa, Illinois, Texas, Connecticut, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, Idaho, Oregon, Vermont, United States, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Maine, Alabama, Arkansas, Washington, South Carolina, Nebraska, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Colorado, Missouri, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Nevada, District of Columbia, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Minnesota, New York (state), New Jersey, Michigan, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Louisiana, Ohio
This study contains data on the diffusion of innovative legislation and public programs among the 48 continental states of the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. Information is provided for the year in which each state initiated each of 85 innovative programs and for the date when the state became a territory. Variables provide information on the programs enacted and on the innovative score, which was calculated for each state on each issue. Based on the number of years that elapsed between the first and the last legislative enactment of a program, each state received a score corresponding to the percentage of time that elapsed between the first adoption of the program and the state's own acceptance of the program.
Curated
Federal Employees' Attitudes Toward Political Activity, 1967 (ICPSR 7277)
Released/updated on: 1992-02-16
Geographic coverage: United States
This study investigated a sample of federal civil service employees whose political activities were regulated by federal legislation. Questions probed the respondents' political interest and participation in the political process at various levels, their feelings of political efficacy, perceptions of the influence of their occupational role on their political activity and attitudes, their knowledge of the restrictions placed on them, and their evaluations of these restrictions. Many questions were replicated from the Survey Research Center's American National Election Studies (see AMERICAN NATIONAL ELECTION STUDIES CUMULATIVE DATA FILE, 1948-1998 [ICPSR 8475]). Demographic variables include sex, race, place of birth, and family income
Curated
Illinois Lobbyists Study, 1964 (ICPSR 7283)
Released/updated on: 1992-02-16
Geographic coverage: United States, Illinois
This study collected information on persons who were registered as lobbyists in Illinois in 1963. The questionnaire assessed governmental experiences, motivation, lobbyists' perceptions of the legislative process and their role within it, and their policy stands on several state, national, and international questions from which a liberal-conservative index was constructed. Demographic data include sex, age, place of residence and place of birth, religion, level of education, present and past occupations, party affiliation, total income, and income from lobbying activities.
Curated
Legislative Behavior Study, 1957 (ICPSR 7209)
Released/updated on: 1992-02-16
Geographic coverage: United States, Tennessee, Ohio, California, New Jersey
This study surveyed members of the state legislatures of California, New Jersey, Ohio, and Tennessee during the 1957 sessions. The interviews focused on the perceptions and behaviors of state legislators, with special emphasis on their perceptions of the workings of the legislature, the roles and tasks of legislators as well as institutional and party officials, the workings of political parties and pressure groups and their bearing on substantive policy issues, and the influence patterns within the legislature. In addition, the respondents were questioned on their recruitment into politics, their political orientation, perceptions of their job, political motivations and aspirations, and responsibilities toward their party, constituents, and pressure groups.
Curated
Lobbyists and Legislators: A Comparative State Study, 1966 (ICPSR 7248)
Released/updated on: 2006-01-18
Geographic coverage: North Carolina, Oregon, United States, Massachusetts, Utah
This study includes data collected in February and March 1966 from registered lobbyists (Part 1) and legislators (Part 2) in the states of Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon, and Utah. The lobbyists (Part 1) were asked about their backgrounds in politics and in the organizations they represented. The study ascertained the lobbyists' feelings about their profession and its role in the legislative process as well as specifics about the organization(s) by whom they were employed. In addition to details of their work as lobbyists -- contacts with legislatures, techniques used to persuade, and time spent with opposition lobbyists -- the study probed the respondents' opinions about the most powerful occupation groups and the reasons for their influential positions. The legislators (Part 2) were asked about their early interest in politics, their previously held government positions, and the legislative leadership positions held at the time of the interview. Questions centered on the legislators' opinions of lobbyists and contacts with them, their competence, tasks, means of communication, and the extent to which lobbyists used pressure and persuasive activities. Aggregate data descriptions of the legislators' districts are also included.
Curated
State Legislative Committee Systems in the United States, 1981 (ICPSR 8389)
Released/updated on: 1992-02-16
Geographic coverage: United States
This collection focuses on the committee systems in the separate state legislatures in the United States. The data were collected by mail questionnaire sent to a national sample of state legislators at the close of the 1981 legislative sessions. Included are responses to questions about the management, operation, and efficiency of legislative committee systems as well as problems perceived in the committee system. State legislators were asked to evaluate the performance and centrality of the committees they served on and their legislative chamber as a whole.
Curated
State Legislative Conference Committees, 1975-1979 (ICPSR 8312)
Released/updated on: 1992-02-16
This study, funded by a University of Kentucky summer faculty grant, examined the importance of conference committee behavior in the state legislatures of ten states over one budgetary period. The study analyzed the winners in conference and the degree of inter-chamber disagreement on budgetary items.