Outside Looking In

Lobbyists' Views on Civil Discourse in U.S. State Legislatures

Nicholas P. Lovrich, Francis A. Benjamin, John C. Pierce, William D. Schreckhise, Nicholas P. Lovrich, Francis A. Benjamin, John C. Pierce, William D. Schreckhise

• Publisher: Washington State University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780874224061
• eBook ISBN: 9781636820835
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: American Government
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The recent advent of gridlock and hyper-partisanship in the United States Congress has raised questions about whether similar divides are occurring in state governments, and if so, why? To find out, researchers--working in 2018 and 2019 under a National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD) grant--conducted a survey of registered lobbyists and public agency legislative liaison officers in all fifty states. They received over 1, 200 completed surveys. The researchers hope that understanding reasons behind politicians' inability to demonstrate civility and reach bipartisan agreements will yield effective, purposeful interventions.

In Outside Looking In, scholars from across the country interpret the survey results. Using a variety of lenses, they present unique perspectives, revealing both regional and national insights. Chapters address findings on a variety of topics, including effects of political culture heritage on perceptions of civil discourse phenomena and the impact of legislative professionalization; sentiments about civil discourse and perceptions of their own state legislature among lobbyists; a multivariate cross-state comparison of the relative impact of political culture, professionalism, and term limits; presumed and actual impact of term limits on civility; a comparison of lobbyists with and without prior legislative service; and effects of the rural/urban divide and state-level inequality across the states.

Also discussed are the efforts by the National Conference of State Legislatures to advance the cause of civil discourse, and NICD interventions to support civil discourse in state legislatures.

Offering rare insights on discourse in state legislatures, this work is a must-read for political science scholars studying state governments, state-level lobbying, and civility in government, as well as for state legislators and public interest groups committed to enhancing civility in government.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Dedication and Tributes to Dr. Martha (Marty) Mullen
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• Preface I
• Preface II
• Preface III
• Editors’ Introduction
• Chapter 1: Political Culture, Historical Legacy, and Contemporary Levels of Civil Discourse in U.S. State Legislatures: Evidence on Selective Impact vs. Ubiquitous Penetration of Incivility in U.S. State Legislatures
• Chapter 2: The Connection between Legislative Professionalism and Legislative Civility
• Chapter 3: Nonprofits, Civility, and the Legislative Processes: Does Public Interest Lobbying Make a Difference?
• Chapter 4: Term Limits: Presumed and Actual Impact on Civility
• Chapter 5: The Perspectives of Former State Solons: Comparing Revolvers with Other Lobbyists
• Chapter 6: State Income Inequality and Incivility
• Chapter 7: Rural and Urban Polarization and Civility in State Legislatures
• Chapter 8: Modeling the Sources of Cross-State Differences in Legislative Civility
• Chapter 9: From the Inside Looking In: State Legislative Civility from a Practitioner’s Perspective
• Chapter 10: Encouraging Civility in State Legislatures: How to Train Legislators, and How to Measure the Results
• Chapter 11: Summary Overview: Insights for Practitioners and Academics
• Contributors
• Author Index
• Subject Index