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PREDICTORS OF CONGRESSIONAL INCIVILITY
Title
PREDICTORS OF CONGRESSIONAL INCIVILITY.
Creator
Jordan, Nicholas, Schraufnagel, Scot, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Many have decried the lack of civility in Congress. However, to this point, few have attempted to isolate individual level explanations for the lack of comity. This research attempts to rectify this lapse. Through matched pair analysis using quota sampling with replacement, the significant predictors of uncivil behaviors are isolated in a Logistic regression. Initially, a sample is established using the New York Times and Washington Post, 1933-2005, inclusive. This time period begins with the...
Show moreMany have decried the lack of civility in Congress. However, to this point, few have attempted to isolate individual level explanations for the lack of comity. This research attempts to rectify this lapse. Through matched pair analysis using quota sampling with replacement, the significant predictors of uncivil behaviors are isolated in a Logistic regression. Initially, a sample is established using the New York Times and Washington Post, 1933-2005, inclusive. This time period begins with the 73rd Congress and ends with the 109th. Incidents of incivility were catalogued and the details concerning the individuals involved were gathered. In the end, the research finds several significant predictors of incivility; tenure, ideological extremism, electoral safety, and previous state legislative experience are all significantly associated with the likelihood of engaging in uncivil acts. By isolating the factors that likely contribute to incivility, it may be possible to make recommendations concerning the recruitment of future candidates; recommendations that may lead to a more productive legislature.
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Date Issued
2008
Identifier
CFE0002153, ucf:47523
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002153
TAKING THE INITIATIVE: EXPLORING THE INFLUENCE OF CITIZEN LEGISLATING ON GOOD GOVERNANCE IN THE AMERICAN STATES
Title
TAKING THE INITIATIVE: EXPLORING THE INFLUENCE OF CITIZEN LEGISLATING ON GOOD GOVERNANCE IN THE AMERICAN STATES.
Creator
Milita, Kerri, Schraufnagel, Scot, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
The citizen legislator is both a controversial and recurring phenomenon of interest in political science research. A longstanding concern for the discipline has been whether or not involvement of the public in the lawmaking process is an asset or a liability to quality governance. This study explores the desirability of citizen legislating in the American states. A four dimensional index is created that includes empirical indicators of "substantive" and "procedural" governance. These...
Show moreThe citizen legislator is both a controversial and recurring phenomenon of interest in political science research. A longstanding concern for the discipline has been whether or not involvement of the public in the lawmaking process is an asset or a liability to quality governance. This study explores the desirability of citizen legislating in the American states. A four dimensional index is created that includes empirical indicators of "substantive" and "procedural" governance. These indicators include voter turnout, fiscal health, the ideological distance between government and the citizenry, and the diversity of a state's interest group system. The total number of initiatives and popular referendums that appear biennially within each of the fifty states is employed as the key explanatory variable to capture the degree of citizen legislating that is occurring in the states between 1980 and 2000. A random-effects generalized least squares regression reveals that higher ballot measure counts are statistically and substantively associated with better quality governance, indicating that citizen legislation is a quality input into the political system. Key control variables such as divided government, interparty competition, citizen ideological extremism, state legislative term limits, and legislative professionalism also tell particularly poignant stories about the road to good governance.
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Date Issued
2009
Identifier
CFE0002519, ucf:47648
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002519
GREEN BUILDING: PUBLIC OPINION, SEMANTICS, AND HEURISTIC PROCESSING
Title
GREEN BUILDING: PUBLIC OPINION, SEMANTICS, AND HEURISTIC PROCESSING.
Creator
Webb, Christina, Schraufnagel, Scot, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Research on public support for green building has, to date, been incomplete. Understanding the demographics of individuals that support green building has remained secondary to merely determining real opinions on the topic. The identity of supporters and the motivation behind their support is the focus of this research. Specifically, is support for green building dependent on the way in which the issue is framed? This research aims to focus on those that are spreading the message about green...
Show moreResearch on public support for green building has, to date, been incomplete. Understanding the demographics of individuals that support green building has remained secondary to merely determining real opinions on the topic. The identity of supporters and the motivation behind their support is the focus of this research. Specifically, is support for green building dependent on the way in which the issue is framed? This research aims to focus on those that are spreading the message about green building, industry experts, and the mass public. By exposing how green building experts talk about the issue, we may begin to understand why public support for green building has yet to reach the kind of mainstream acceptance other planning and design techniques have,such as New Urbanism. I predict that green building experts perceived low levels of public awareness, with the exception of those within the Northwest region, which I believ will perceive higher levels of awareness. In addition, I assume that industry experts will be most focused on energy efficiency as a primary concept of green building. As for the public, I hypothesize that those aware of green building and individuals age 50 and older will be more likely to support green building. With the introduction of source cues, I expect that support for green building will decrease when respondents received either an environmentalism cue or a government program cue. Using survey instruments, I was able to determine that all green building experts perceive public awareness as low and do, in fact, focus their efforts on energy efficiency. With regards to the public, support was highest among those that are aware, as well as those age 50 and older. In addition, insertion of source cues decreased support for green building, with the government program source cue providing the lowest levels of support for green building.
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Date Issued
2005
Identifier
CFE0000600, ucf:46525
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000600