Guide to State Politics and Policy

Richard G. Niemi is Don Alonzo Watson Professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester, where he has taught for forty-five years and has served as department chair, associate dean for graduate studies, and interim dean. He earned his PhD from the University of Michigan in 1967. Professor Niemi has been a Guggenheim fellow and a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Lund (Sweden) and at the University of Iowa. In 2007-2009 he was president of the American Political Science Association's Section on State Politics and Policy. He is a foreign member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of numerous works on political socialization, civic education, voting behavior, and various aspects of state politics. He has an ongoing interest in the Native Americans of upstate New York and Wisconsin, from whom he can trace a portion of his ancestry. Joshua J. Dyck is associate professor of political science and codirector of the Center for Public Opinion at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where he has been on the faculty since 2012. Previously, he was associate professor of political science at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, where he was a faculty member for six years. He also spent a year at the Public Policy Institute of California during the 2005-2006 academic year as a predoctoral fellow. Professor Dyck received his master's degree and doctorate in government and politics from the University of Maryland and holds a bachelor's degree in economics and political science from Western Washington University. His research focuses on the intersection of social context and political institutions on political behavior in the mass public. Much of his research has examined the effects of direct legislation in the American states on public opinion and attitudes about democracy.

Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations - Carol S. Weissert The Past, Present, and Future Role of State Constitutions - John Dinan Geography, Political Culture, and American Politics - James G. Gimpel Interstate Interactions - Ann O'M. Bowman Democratic Responsiveness - Justin Phillips Initiative and Referendum - Frederick J. Boehmke and Joshua J. Dyck Election Administration - Michael J. Hanmer and Richard G. Niemi Influences on State Elections - Thomas M. Carsey and Monica Moore State Party Organizations - Paul S. Herrnson and Jeffrey A. Taylor Interest Groups and Their Influence - Peter L. Francia Regulating Interest Groups in the States - Christopher Witko Media Politics in the States - Martin Johnson History and Development of State Legislatures, 1619 to 1961 - Peverill Squire Districting - Michael P. McDonald Legislative Diversity - Beth Reingold Leadership and Committee Organization - James Coleman Battista Legislative Reform - Alan Rosenthal Gubernatorial Backgrounds, History, Elections, Powers - Margaret R. Ferguson and Joseph J. Foy Bureaucracy - Cynthia Bowling Organization and Structure of State Courts - Paul Brace Judicial Selection and Retention of State Court Judges - Meghan E. Leonard and Laura Carlson Specialization in the Courts - Lawrence Baum Courts and the Initiative and Referendum Process - Kenneth P. Miller and Aditya Pai Policy Process in the States - Lilliard Richardson Innovations and Diffusion - Andrew Karch Fiscal Policy - James E. Alt, Soledad Artiz Prillaman, and David Dreyer Lassen Moral Issues - Laura S. Hussey Criminal Justice Policy and Public Safety in the American States - Nicholas P. Lovrich, Faith E. Lutze, and Nichole R. Lovrich Education Policy - J. Celeste Lay Environmental Policy - David M. Konisky Health Care - Laura Katz Olson Immigration - Tristany Leikem and Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz Welfare - Richard C. Fording