Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wzw2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-22T12:18:17.742Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Term Limits, Electoral Competition, and Representational Diversity: The Case of Florida

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Scot Schraufnagel  and
Karen Halperin
Scot Schraufnagel
Affiliation:
University of Central Florida
Karen Halperin
Affiliation:
Florida State University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The article assesses two predictions made by term limits advocates: that term limits would increase electoral competition and enhance demographic representation in state legislatures. Although term limits may indeed have these consequences in some places and some times, their early effects in Florida do not provide support for these predictions. Our analysis suggests that state legislative seats that have opened up as the result of term limits yielded races with no smaller margins of victory than in previous elections, nor were they more likely to be contested by the two major political parties. Likewise, we found no significant increase in the representation of minorities or women in the Florida State Legislature after term limits.

Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 6 , Issue 4 , Winter 2006 , pp. 448 - 462
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Benjamin, Gerald, and Malbin, Michael J., eds. 1992. Limiting Legislative Terms. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Beck, Nathaniel, and Katz, Jonathan N.. 1995. “What to Do (and Not to Do) with Time-Series Cross-Section Data.” American Political Science Review 89:634–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, Earl, and Black, Merle. 2002. The Rise of Southern Republicans. Cambridge, MA: Bellknap Press.Google Scholar
Boeckelman, Keith A. 1993. “Term Limitation, Responsiveness, and the Public Interest.” Polity 26:189–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breaux, David, and Jewell, Malcolm. 1992. “Winning Big: The Incumbency Advantage in State Legislative Races.” In Changing Patterns in State Legislative Careers, eds. Moncrief, Gary F. and Thompson, Joel A.. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Cain, Bruce E. 1985. “Assessing the Partisan Effects of Redistricting.” American Political Science Review 79:320–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cain, Bruce E. 1996. “The Varying Impact of Legislative Term Limits.” In Legislative Term Limits: Public Choice Perspectives, ed. Grofman, Bernard. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar
Caldwell, Alicia. 2001. “Term Limits Might Look More Like a Job Swap,” St. Petersburg Times, 16 June, 1B.Google Scholar
Campagna, Janet, and Grofman, Bernard. 1990. “Party Control and Partisan Bias in 1980s Congressional Redistricting.” Journal of Politics 52:1242–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caress, Stanley M. 1999. “The Influence of Term Limits on the Electoral Success of Women.” Women and Politics 20:45–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carey, John M., Niemi, Richard G., and Powell, Lynda W.. 1998. “The Effects of Term Limits on State Legislatures.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 23:271–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carey, John M., Niemi, Richard G., and Powell, Lynda W.. 2000. Term Limits in State Legislatures. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carroll, Susan J., and Jenkins, Krista. 2001. “Do Term Limits Help Women Get Elected?” Social Science Quarterly 82:197–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Center for American Women in Politics. 2006. CAWP Eagleton Institute of Politics—Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/ (May 2006).Google Scholar
Conley, Richard S. 2003. Florida 2002 Elections Update. Boston, MA: Pearson Custom Publishing.Google Scholar
Crane, Edward H. 1993. “Reclaiming the Political Process.” In Market Liberalism: A Paradigm for the 21st Century, eds. Boaz, David and Crane, Edward H.. Washington, DC: Cato Institute.Google Scholar
Crane, Edward H., and Pilon, Roger. 1994. The Politics and Law of Term Limits. Washington, DC: Cato Institute. Erikson.Google Scholar
Robert, S. 1971. “The Advantage of Incumbency in Congressional Elections.” Polity 3:395–405.Google Scholar
Florida Division of Elections. 2006. Florida Department of State—Division of Elections. http://election.dos.state.fl.us/ (May 2006).Google Scholar
Fund, John H. 1992. “Term Limitation: An Idea Whose Time Has Come.” In Limiting Legislative Terms, eds. Benjamin, Gerald and Malbin, Michael J.. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Gaddie, Ronald K., and Bullock, Charles III. 2000. Elections to Open Seats in the U.S. House. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.Google Scholar
Garand, James C. 1991. “Electoral Marginality in State Legislative Elections, 1968-86.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 16:7–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glazer, Amihai, and Wattenberg, Martin P.. 1996. “How Will Term Limits Affect Legislative Work?” In Legislative Term Limits: Public Choice Perspectives, ed. Grofman, Bernard. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar
Holbrook, Thomas M., and Dunk, Emily Van. 1993. “Electoral Competition in the American States.” American Political Science Review 87:955–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacob, Paul. 1994. “From the Voters with Care.” In The Politics and Law of Term Limits, eds. Crane, Edward H. and Pilon, Roger. Washington, DC: Cato Institute.Google Scholar
Jacobson, Gary C. 2004. The Politics of Congressional Elections, 6th ed. New York: Pearson Longman.Google Scholar
Kousser, Thad. 2005. Term Limits and the Dismantling of State Legislative Professionalism. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kunin, Madeline. 1991. “Term Limits Could Break the Gridlock, Open the Doors to True Citizen Government,” Arizona Republic, 15 September, C2.Google Scholar
Mack, Kristen. 2002. “Term Limits Begets Seat-Hopping,” Houston Chronicle, 25 December, A33.Google Scholar
March, William. 2001. “Lawmakers Plan to Lead Senate Gets Snagged on Term Limits Rule,” Tampa Tribune, 14 December, M1.Google Scholar
Meiners, Roger E., and Miller, Roger LeRoy. 1992. Gridlock in Government: How to Break the Stagnation of America. Washington, DC: Free Congress Foundation.Google Scholar
Miller, Mark C. 1995. The High Priests of American Politics: The Role of Lawyers in American Political Institutions. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press.Google Scholar
Mitchell, Cleta Deatherage. 1991. “Limiting Congressional Terms: A Return to Fundamental Democracy.” Journal of Law and Politics 7:733–46.Google Scholar
Moncrief, Gary F., and Thompson, Joel A., eds. 1992. Changing Patterns in State Legislative Careers. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mondak, Jeffery J. 1995. “Elections as Filters: Term Limits and the Composition of the U.S. House.” Political Research Quarterly 48:701–27.Google Scholar
Petracca, Mark. 1992. “Rotation in Office: The History of an Idea.” In Limiting Legislative Terms, eds. Benjamin, Gerald and Malbin, Michael. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Pinney, Neil, Serra, George, and Sprick, Dalene. 2004. “The Costs of Reform: Consequences of Limiting Legislative Terms of Service.” Party Politics 10:69–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powell, Richard J. 2000. “The Impact of Term Limits on the Candidacy Decisions of State Legislators in U.S. House Elections.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 25:645–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stimson, James A. 1985. “Regression in Space and Time: A Statistical Essay.” American Journal of Political Science 29:914–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, Joel A., and Moncrief, Gary F.. 1993. “The Implications of Term Limits for Women and Minorities: Some Evidence from the States.” Social Science Quarterly 74:300–9.Google Scholar
Tidmarch, Charles M., Lonergan, Edward, and Sciortino, John. 1986. “Interparty Competition in the U.S. States: Legislative Elections, 1970-1978.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 11:353–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Dunk, Emily. 1997. “Challenger Quality in State Legislative Elections.” Political Research Quarterly 50:793–807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weber, Ronald E., Tucker, Harvey J., and Brace, Paul. 1991. “Vanishing Marginals in State Legislative Elections.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 16:29–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weissert, Carol S., and Halperin, Karen. 2004. “Public Knowledge, Attentiveness and Voter Dissatisfaction: Public Opinion on Term Limits over Time and across Two States.” Presented at the 4th Annual State Politics and Policy Conference, Akron, OH.Google Scholar
Will, George F. 1992. Restoration: Congress, Term Limits, and the Recovery of Deliberative Democracy. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar