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The relationsip between legislators and bureacrats is a complex one that includes collaboration, cooptation, delegation and monitoring. Legislative term limits have the potential to alter this relationship in a number of ways. This paper explores the impact of term limits on the relationship between state legislators and bureaucrats, using data from personal interviews with both pre and post-term limited members of Michigan’s House of Representatives. Three measures are used: The extent to which legislators rely on bureaucrats for information and guidance, the level of priority legislators assign to monitoring state agencies, and how well members evaluated themselves as a chamber in monitoring the implementation of programs. Overall, we find that term limits has some important, but limited effects on the relationships between legislators and bureaucrats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a five-year panel study of the Michigan House of Representatives, this investigation explores the impact of term limits on four relationships between legislators: influence, friendships, consulting about a politically salient issue and consulting about a technical issue. We found that overall the number of people described as influential declined, but those that were named were primarily those in positions of formal leadership. Surprisingly we found that friendships did not decline with an influx of newcomers, but cross-party friendships did decline. Finally, we found that hubs or key consultants emerged in both vote cuing networks, but especially around the technical issue. We argue that some impacts of term limits depend on the number of newcomers, but others reflect institutional changes in the term-limited legislature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research attempts to explore political culture by examining the campaign speeches of South Carolina and Michigan gubernatorial candidates throughout the 1950s -- a time when the differences between the subcultures of these two states were described as robust. The findings reveal distinct rhetorical patterns, as appeals to voters in a moralistic culture promoted full participation and collective resolution of community problems, while those made in a traditionalistic culture were exclusionary and encouraged people to rely on the political elite. These distinctions were even reflected in candidates' choice of pronouns with Southern candidates consistently choosing the pronoun I and the Michigan candidate preferring the collective pronoun we. The results lay the groundwork for future research tracing how such regional rhetorical patterns have evolved over time. Such efforts should provide much needed insight into the way political norms are reconstructed and modified across time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interaction between legislators and interest groups is a complicated two-way relationship that is likely to become even more complex in states that have adopted term limits. Based on a longitudinal study of member of the Michigan House of Representatives, the authors explore several facets of legislators’ perceptions of their relationship with lobbyists before and after term limits. Despite the claims of some term limits advocates that this reform would purge the state of cozy relationships between elected officials and special interests, the authors find that there is no difference between the extent to which legislators rely on interest groups and lobbyists for information and guidance on issues. Further they find that legislators may be more instead of less accessible to lobbyists after term limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]