Material Detail

This module offers you ways to learn more about the theory and practice of popular government. It focuses upon political representation and legislative behavior and allows you to compare representative policymaking in the California state legislature with the making of policy through the direct democratic device of the initiative process. It utilizes demographic data from the U.S. census, from election returns for the state legislature, from rollcall votes in the legislature, and from votes for and against popular initiatives. The focus on Analyzing Legislative Behavior includes Party Behavior, Interest Groups, Region or Area, Policy Issues, District Ideology, District Partisanship, Election Outcomes, Member Characteristics, and Member Voting Behavior. There is also an extensive discussion of statistical procedures. Pedagogical significance of module. Substantively, the REPR module provides students with data that can be used to study the concept of representation in courses on empirical theory, the legislative process, and California politics. Methodologically, it provides students with ratio level data that can be used in univariate analysis, comparisons of means, least squares (regression) analysis, and the creation of various graphic displays of information.