Professionalism, institutionalization and committee services in US. state legislatures

Abstract

This thesis examines the relationship between legislative professionalism and institutionalization in the committee systems of six U.S. states. I examine whether increased professionalization, as defined by increases in levels of member salary, legislative staffing, and time in session, causes legislatures to institutionalize in a manner similar to the U.S. Congress. Specifically, this thesis focuses on the use (or lack thereof) of seniority as an automatic procedure for the assignment to, and transfer between, committees. I find that while it appears that all state legislators value service on committees, legislative professionalization is not an adequate explanatory variable to describe the variation in the institutionalization of committee systems that we see across states in the United States. This finding is especially evident in the analysis of California, the most professionalized state legislature in the U.S.