Empirical Determinants of Bicameral Sequence in State Legislatures.

This article presents information regarding empirical determinants of bicameral sequence in state legislatures. In a simple spatial setup with no uncertainty, the bicameral chamber that originates legislation will typically realize policy outcomes closer to the preference of its median member than will the chamber that votes second on enacted legislation. The existence of this first-mover advantage in the bicameral process implies, first, that substantive policy outcomes will differ depending on which bicameral chamber originates a given piece of legislation.