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We are professors of political science sharing academic research relevant to Utah. Posts are not peer reviewed and may discuss work in progress that is subject to future revision. Learn more. Each post reflects only its author’s views.
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Author Archives: Adam Brown
Why do legislators skip votes?
Legislative leaders skip way more votes than non-leaders. Let’s continue this study of absenteeism in the Utah legislature. Earlier, I showed that Utah legislators skip lots of votes. Then, I showed that legislators miss some types of votes more than … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged absenteeism, floor power, leadership, legislature
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Why do legislators skip votes?
Which legislators miss the most votes?
Five legislators missed more than 30% of their votes in 2011. Yesterday, I wrote that Utah’s legislators skip a LOT of votes. On average, 7.1% of Representatives missed each vote during the 2011 session, and 14.4% of Senators missed each … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged absenteeism, leadership, legislature, representation, roll call votes, senate president
5 Comments
When do Utah’s legislators skip votes?
Legislators are far less likely to skip party-line votes Recently, I wrote that Utah’s legislators skip a LOT of votes. Today, let’s ask why. There are two ways to come at this. First, we can ask which votes get skipped … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged absenteeism, leadership, legislature, roll call votes
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When do Utah’s legislators skip votes?
Are Utah’s legislators skipping votes?
Legislators are more likely to be absent than to vote “no.” A legislator’s most visible job is to cast votes in the legislature on behalf of his or her constituents, yet it turns out that Utah’s legislators miss a LOT … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged absenteeism, legislature, representation, republic, roll call votes
4 Comments
How educated are Utah’s legislators? An update
Back in February, I released data on the educational attainment of Utah’s legislators. I found that the Utah Senate’s education level was above average for a state legislative chamber, while the Utah House was well below average. Details are here: … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged education, james madison, john adams, legislature
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How educated are Utah’s legislators? An update
How badly were legislative districts gerrymandered in 2001?
Although Democrats win 30% of the Utah House votes statewide but only 23% of the seats, we cannot conclude that partisan gerrymandering is to blame. If you add up all the votes cast for Utah House candidates statewide in 2010, … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged counties, demographics, imbalance, legislature, redistricting, single member districts, utah county
3 Comments
Salt Lake County to lose seats in Utah legislature
If you’re coming from that article in the Tribune today, then you’re probably looking for this post: Which counties will gain and lose seats in the Utah legislature? I’ve written several posts about redistricting in the past couple weeks. You … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged redistricting
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Salt Lake County to lose seats in Utah legislature
Do single member districts hurt Democrats?
Even without a partisan gerrymander, Democrats cannot win a full 30% of seats unless Democratic voters are clustered in an optimal way. In 2010, Democrats won only 17 of the 75 seats in the Utah House of Representatives. That’s 23% … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged imbalance, partisanship, redistricting, single member districts
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Do single member districts hurt Democrats?
Did the legislature gerrymander Matheson’s district in 2001?
It’s not clear that the legislature actually made Matheson’s district more Republican in 2001. It’s often said that the Utah legislature tried to gerrymander Utah’s second district (Matheson’s) in 2001. By moving Republicans into the district and Democrats out of … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged congress, jim matheson, legislature, partisanship, redistricting, republic
2 Comments
Over the past few weeks, we’ve posted a ridiculous amount of research about the redistricting process here in Utah. What have we learned? Here’s the Cliff Notes version. Looking back: How has Utah’s population grown since 2000? Utah’s population is … Continue reading →