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Do Term Limits “Limit” the Speaker? Examining the Effects of Legislative Term Limits on State Speaker Power

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2021

Laine P. Shay Open the ORCID record for Laine P. Shay [Opens in a new window]
Laine P. Shay*
Affiliation:
The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
*
Laine P. Shay, Department of Social Sciences, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 6300 Ocean Drive, Unit 5826, Corpus Christi, TX78412, USA. Email: laine.shay@tamucc.edu
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Abstract

What is the role of legislative term limits in the structure of legislative institutions? Using Mooney’s collective action problem theoretical framework on legislative leadership power, I claim that legislative term limits should be a key determinant in a state Speaker’s power via the delegation of institutional tools that control the lawmaking process. Speakers can use these tools to influence policy outcomes and their colleagues. I test this expectation in an analysis of lower chamber rules in nearly all states between 1981 and 2015. The results indicate that states with implemented term limits are associated with a more powerful Speaker. These findings suggest that a more nuanced relationship between legislative term limits and leadership power exist than previously thought.

Keywords

term limitsspeaker powerstate politics
Type
Original Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , June 2021 , pp. 139 - 164
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020

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