Party Switching among Incumbent Southern State Legislators, 1980-2003.

What factors lead to the occurrence of party switching in state legislatures? While the study of party switching at the congressional level is a burgeoning field, the topic has rarely been examined at other levels of government. This paper offers a systematic aggregate analysis of party switching among incumbent state legislators in the South from 1980 to 2003. The results show that the incidence of party switching rises with increases in environmental stress associated with political, institutional, and economic shocks. Findings from this paper will be of interest to students of state politics, parties, and elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]