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Democracy Among Strangers: Term Limits' Effects on Relationships Between State Legislators in Michigan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Marjorie Sarbaugh-Thompson ,
Lyke Thompson ,
Charles D. Elder ,
Meg Comins ,
Richard C. Elling  and
John Strate
Marjorie Sarbaugh-Thompson
Affiliation:
Wayne State University
Lyke Thompson
Affiliation:
Wayne State University
Charles D. Elder
Affiliation:
Wayne State University
Meg Comins
Affiliation:
University of South Florida
Richard C. Elling
Affiliation:
Wayne State University
John Strate
Affiliation:
Wayne State University
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Abstract

By truncating service, term limits create massive turnover in some state legislatures where they exist, bringing flocks of newcomers into office. With less time to get to know each other and to develop expertise and influence, how do legislators know who to consult and whose advice to rely on? We explore this and other questions about three relationships (influence, friendship, and policy consultation) with a longitudinal study of the Michigan House of Representatives, a highly professionalized body with stringent limits on legislative terms. We found that term limits lead to a more pronounced regional component of friendship, greater concentration of influence among caucus leaders, consulting networks with more prominent hubs that could control the flow of information, and a decline in relationships across party lines. We argue that these effects of term limits bode poorly for bipartisan negotiation and consensus-building among legislators representing diverse constituencies.

Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 6 , Issue 4 , Winter 2006 , pp. 384 - 409
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

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