Who are we?
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 Posts are not peer reviewed and may discuss work in progress that is subject to future revision.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.
Hear about new posts
Twitter @poliARB
Archives
Author Archives: Adam Brown
Two conflicting BYU studies on immigration?
Taking these two studies together, we find that (1) many people don’t know the LDS Church’s stance, but (2) those who do know it tend to move in the Church’s direction, at least if they are LDS Republicans. Today, the … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged immigration, mormons, polls, utah compact, utah county, utah voter poll
1 Comment
Mormons and Democrats
I just learned that there was a story in the Tribune yesterday that linked to this site’s analysis of Mormons and Democrats. I can see from my site statistics that many people are coming to my site’s home page, but … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
1 Comment
Will Utah’s redistricting committee be biased?
Speaker Lockhart and President Waddoups apparently did not try to stack the redistricting committee. Yesterday, legislative leaders announced which members of the Utah legislature would serve on the redistricting committee. Let’s consider which groups are well represented on this committee … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged bias, ideology, legislature, measurement, rankings, redistricting, republic, utah county
2 Comments
Who has the decisive vote in the Utah legislature?
In 2011 the legislators with the most floor power were Sen. Stuart Adams and Rep. Don Ipson. If we look at floor votes in the Utah House and Senate, who are the most powerful legislators? Hint: It’s not the Speaker … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged backdoor power, floor power, ideology, leadership, legislature, measurement, median voter theorem, rankings, roll call votes, senate president, speaker of the house
Comments Off on Who has the decisive vote in the Utah legislature?
Who has the decisive vote in the Utah legislature?
How rushed was HB 477, the GRAMA bill?
HB477 passed faster than 99.4% of the routine bills that passed in 2011. There have many complaints about HB 477, the bill that revised Utah’s GRAMA bill. One of those complaints is that the bill was rushed through the legislative … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged grama, legislature
Comments Off on How rushed was HB 477, the GRAMA bill?
How rushed was HB 477, the GRAMA bill?
Where have all the freshman legislators gone?
Despite the crummy salary, service in the Utah legislature has become a career. Take a look at the figure below (click to enlarge). For each odd-numbered year (i.e. each year after an election), it shows what percentage of Utah legislators … Continue reading
Social science: It works
Data-based analysis can contribute in meaningful ways to Utah’s political dialogue. Last Friday, March 4, the Senate passed HB 497, Rep. Stephen Sandstrom’s illegal immigration enforcement bill, by a vote of 22-5 with 2 absent. The bill was almost identical … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged immigration, legislature, roll call votes
Comments Off on Social science: It works
Social science: It works
Was HB 410 a bipartisan battle between moderates and ideologues?
It’s extremely unusual that the legislators in the center would team up to vote against the legislators at the extremes. Something weird happened today in the Utah legislature. The Utah House of Representatives voted on Becky Edwards’s HB 410, but … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged ideology, immigration, leadership, legislature, measurement, partisanship, roll call votes
3 Comments
Will Sandstrom’s immigration bill pass the Senate?
If the Senate votes on HB 70 without any amendments, I predict that it will pass easily On Friday, the Utah House passed H.B. 70, Rep. Stephen Sandstrom’s illegal immigration enforcement bill. Now it goes to the Senate. If the … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged ideology, immigration, legislature, roll call votes
Comments Off on Will Sandstrom’s immigration bill pass the Senate?
Will Sandstrom’s immigration bill pass the Senate?
Do we live in a democracy or a republic?
Maybe it’s not a coincidence that we began referring to ourselves as a “democracy” more frequently at the same time that our country became more (directly) democratic. Do we live in a democracy or a republic? Let’s ask Google. I … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged democracy, direct democracy, education, ideology, initiative, john adams, recall, referendum, republic, thomas jefferson
Comments Off on Do we live in a democracy or a republic?
Do we live in a democracy or a republic?