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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 Posts are not peer reviewed and may discuss work in progress that is subject to future revision.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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Category Archives: Everything
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
What do Utahns know about the LDS Church’s stance on immigration?
Just what do Utahns believe about the position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on immigration? Paul Rolly in his column expresses incredulity at calls from Salt Lake County Republican convention delegates to overturn the state’s recent … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged immigration, legislature, mormons, utah compact, utah voter poll
Comments Off on What do Utahns know about the LDS Church’s stance on immigration?
What do Utahns know about the LDS Church’s stance on immigration?
Did the Utah Compact actually change attitudes about immigration?
The publicity about the Compact, including the Compact’s moderate stance, likely helped move active Mormons and strong Republicans toward more opposition to an Arizona-style law. Can public opinion on controversial issues moderate or change in response to public debates? Political … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged immigration, mormons, partisanship, polls, utah compact, utah voter poll
2 Comments
What do Utahns think about legislators’ privacy?
An overwhelming majority (78%) say that “the public’s right to access” is the most important. Public opinion toward complex issues is difficult to measure, especially as the issues involve a choice between important values. The recent debate over the Utah … Continue reading
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
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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
As Adam pointed out in his post earlier, the Deseret News story seems to make a conflict out of two findings that probably do not conflict. The seemingly different findings can be reconciled when a few basics about the nature … Continue reading →