CORRELATES OF STATE POLICIES PROJECT

—IPPSR, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY—

Additional Potential Variables and Datasets to include in the Project:

  • State Partisan Balance Data (1937 – 2011)
  • Source: Klarner, Carl, 2013, “State Partisan Balance Data, 1937 – 2011”, Harvard Dataverse, V1

Link:

Description: Dataset includes number and percent of state legislators who are Democrats and Republicans, party control of state legislatures and governor’s offices, and different measures of party control of state institutions for the years 1937 to 2011. Also includes variables that indicate what percentage of legislators are up for election in a year and whether there is a gubernatorial election. “SourceFiles” in their file names merely provide documentation on coding and primary sources and are only necessary to look at if you want to check my work. The files with “For_Use” in their file names are what most people are going to want.”

  • Local Prohibition of Alcohol Sales by State, 2012 (ranging from 0 to greater than 50):
  • Frendries, John and Raymond Tatalovich. 2010. “A Hundred Miles of Dry’: Religion and the Persistence of Prohibition in the American States.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 10: 302-319.
  • Influence of Christian Right in State GOP, 2004 (ranking of the states):
  • Conger, Kimberly H. 2010. “A Matter of Context: Christian Right Influence in U.S. State Republican Politics,” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 10: 248 – 269.
  • Sin Taxes in the 50 States on Beer and Spirits (ranking of the states):
  • The Tax Foundation, “Research Areas: Excise Taxes” (
  • States that Allow the Medical Use of Marijuana:
  • National Conference of State Legislatures, “State Medical Marijuana Laws,” May 2011.
  • Strength of Abortion Restrictions in the States, 2010 (from weak to strong):
  • Alan Guttmacher Institute. 2011. “State Politics in Brief: An Overview of Abortion Laws.” Retrieved from:
  • Ease of constitutional amendment:
  • Lupia, Arthur, YannaKrupnikov, Adam Seth Levine, Spencer Piston, and Alexander Von Hagen-Jamar. 2010. “Why State Constitutions Differ in their Treatment of Same-Sex Marriage.”
  • TANF Caseload response to the Recession (Percent increase in TANF caseload):
  • Schott, Liz and LaDonnaPavetti. 2011. “Many States cutting TANF benefits harshly despite high unemployment and unprecedented need,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, May 2011,
  • Maximum Monthly TANF Benefit Levels for a Single Parent Family of Three, by State, 1996 and 2010, and Inflation Adjusted Change.
  • Schott, Liz and Ife Finch. 2010. “TANF Benefits are Low and Have not kept pace with inflation: Benefits are not enough to meet families’ basic needs,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
  • Minimum Wage Laws. 2011 (states with higher than federal or now minimum wage law):
  • United States Department of Labor. 2011. “Minimum Wage Laws in the States – January 1, 2011.”
  • Number of Undocumented Immigrants by State
  • Passel, Jeffrey S. and D’Vera Cohn. 2011. “Unauthorized Immigrant Population: National and State Trends, 2010.” Pew Hispanic Research Center.
  • Average Medicaid Payments per Enrollee by Enrollment Group by State.
  • The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 2010. “Medicaid Payments per Enrollee. FY 2007.”
  • Percent of Total Public K-12 Revenues across Sources, by State, 2008:
  • Zhou, Lei. “Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2007-08,” U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. 2010:
  • Average Graduation Rates per Pupil Expenditures:
  • Chapman, Chris, Jennifer Laird, and Angelina KewalRamani. “Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States 1972-2008.” National Center for Education Statistics.
  • Governors’ Institutional Powers
  • Beyle, Thad and Margaret Ferguson. 2008. “Governors and the Executive Branch” in Politics in the American States, 9th ed. Virginia Gray and Russell L. Hanson (eds.). Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.
  • Public University and In-State Tuition and Fees:
  • Table 346. “Average Undergraduate Tuition and Fees and Room and Board Rates Charged for Full-Time Students in Degree-Granting Institutions, by Type and Control of Institution and State or Jurisdiction: 2008-09 and 2009-10.” Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics. 2011.
  • Racial and Ethnic Characteristics
  • US Census Bureau: Resident Population by Race, Hispanic Origin, and State.
  • Diversification of State Economies (ranking of the states):
  • Governor’s Office of Planning and Management, State of Utah. “Hachman Index (SIC 2 Digit)” Retrieved from:
  • Political Culture of States: Daniel Elazar’s Classifications.
  • Elazar, Daniel J. 1984. American Federalism: A View from the States. 3rded. New York, NY: Harper and Row, 136-7.
  • Characteristics of US State Constitutions:
  • Table 1.1 “General Information on State Constitutions.” The Book of the States 2008, vol.40 ed. Audrey S. Wall, Lexington, KY: Council of State Governments, 2008.
  • Barriers to Voting in the US States by State (scale 0 to 10):
  • National Council of State Legislatures and Book of the States.
  • Donovan, Mooney, Smith. State and Local Politics Institutions and Reform. Figure 3.2, pg. 96.
  • States with Statewide Initiative, Popular Referendum, and Recall:
  • Magleby, David B. 1984. Direct Legislation: Voting on Ballot Propositions in the United States. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.
  • Ease of Qualifying Ballot Initiatives Index:
  • Bowler, Shaun and Todd Donovan. 2004. “Measuring the Effect of Direct Democracy on State Policy: Not all Initiatives Are Created Equal.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 4: 345-63.
  • Lewis, D.C. 2011. “Direct Democracy and Minority Rights: Same-Sex Marriage Bans in the U.S. States.” Social Science Quarterly 92: 364-83.
  • States with Closed Primaries, Open Primaries, and Top-Two Blanket Primaries:
  • Donovan, Mooney, Smith. State and Local Politics Institutions and Reform. Figure 5.1, pg. 162.
  • Contributions to State Parties, 2010:
  • National Institute for Money in State Politics. 2011.
  • State Lobbying Laws, 2005.
  • National Conference of State Legislatures. April 2005.
  • Overall Impact of Interest Groups in States.
  • Thomas, Clive and Ronald Hrebernar. 2008. “Interest Groups in the States,” in Virginia Gray and Russell Hanson (eds.) Politics in the American States: A Comparative Analysis. 9th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press. pg. 121.
  • State Legislative Redistricting Criteria in the States.
  • National Conference of State Legislatures. 2009. Redistricting Law 2010. Pg. 106-108.
  • Minority Representation in State Legislatures.
  • Morgan and Morgan, National Association of Latino Elected Officials, and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.
  • State Legislative Oversight of State Bureaucracy:
  • Geber, Brian J. Cherie Maestas, and Nelson C. Dometrius. 2005. “State Legislative Influence over Agency Rulemaking: The Utility of ex Ante Review.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 5: 24-46.
  • Institutional Powers of State Governors (range from weak to strong):
  • Beyle and Ferguson, op. cit. pp. 212-213. Wall op cit. pp. 187-88.
  • Independently Elected Statewide Executives (number of offices):
  • Wall, Audrey S. The Book of the States. 2008, vol. 40. Lexington KY Council of State Governments. Pp. 197-202.
  • Average State Government Employees’ Salaries (ranking of the states):
  • O’Leary Morgan, Kathleen and Scott Morgan. 2010. State Rankings 2010. Washington D.C.: CQ Press 2010. Pp. 361.
  • Women’s Representation on State Supreme and Intermediate Appeals Courts (percentages)
  • National Association of Women Judges. 2010. “2010 Representation of United States’ State Court Women Judges.”
  • Discretionary Caseload of State Supreme Courts
  • LaFountain, Richard et al. 2007. Examining the Work of State Courts, 2007. Williamsburg, VA: National Center for State Courts.
  • State Supreme Court’s Impact on Judicial Decision in Other States.
  • Dear, Jake and Edward W. Jessen. “Measuring the Comparative Influence of State Supreme Courts: Comments on our ‘Followed Rates’ Essay,’” University of California, Davis Law Review 42(2008) 1665-70.
  • State Supreme Court Selection Mechanisms
  • Wall, Audrey S. 2008. The Book of the States. Vol. 40. Lexington, KY: council of State Governments pp. 277-78.
  • States Ranked by Tax Revenue and Total Revenue, 2008 – 2010.
  • Federation of Tax Administration (2011), Tax Foundation (2009).
  • State Reports on Transgender Discrimination Survey (2010)
  • Source: National LGBTQ Taskforce. “National Transgender Discrimination Survey.”

Link:

Description: These state reports based on the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, fielded by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, reveal the specific experiences of transgender and gender non-conforming people in twenty-five states of the US. In these twenty-five states, there were enough respondents for meaningful state-level analysis.

  • Personal and Economic Freedom Indices (2000 – 2010)
  • Source: Ruger, William P. and Jason Sorens. 2013. “Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom.” Mercatus Center, George Mason University.

Ruger, William P. and Jason Sorens. 2011. “Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom.” Mercatus Center, George Mason University.

Ruger, William P. and Jason Sorens. 2009. “Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom.” Mercatus Center, George Mason University.

Link: and and

Description: These indices score all 50 states on their overall respect for individual freedom, and also on their respect for three dimensions of freedom considered separately: fiscal policy, regulatory policy, and personal freedom. In order to calculate these scores, the authors weight public policies according to the estimated costs that government restrictions on freedom impose on their victims. They also provide the raw data and weightings so interested readers can construct their own freedom rankings.

  • ACEEE State Energy Efficiency Database
  • Source: American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). 2016. “ACEEE’s State and Local Policy Database.”

Links:

Description: ACEEE’s State and Local Policy Database includes comprehensive information on energy efficiency policies currently implemented at the state and local level. The database tracks policy activity across multiple sectors, including government, utilities, transportation, buildings, combined heat and power, and appliance standards. - See more at:

  • Variables from the Council of State Governments (1935 – 2015)
  • Links:

Description: The Council of State Governments publishes an annual “Book of the States.” The Book of the States has been a main reference tool since 1935, providing relevant, accurate and timely information, answers and comparisons for all 56 states, commonwealths and territories of the United States.

  • State Gubernatorial Powers
  • Source: Beyle, Thad 1983. “Governors” in Virginia Gray, Herbert Jacob, and Kenneth Vines, eds., Politics in the American States, 4th ed. Pgs. 180-221. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company

Dometrius, N. C. 1987. “Changing Gubernatorial Power - The Measure vs Reality.”Western Political Quarterly, 40(2): 319–28.

Description: Coded from State Constitutions by Beyle (1983). The measure is an additive combination of governor's tenure potential, governor's budgetary power, governor's veto power, and governor's appointment power.

Gubernatorial Powers: Budgetary Power. Beyle and Ferguson’s (2013) scale of budget authority and limits on legislative modifications. Veto Power. Beyle and Ferguson’s (2013) Scale of veto powers and potential for legislative overrides.Tenure Potential.Beyle and Ferguson’s (2013) scale of term length and limits.

Beyle Thad L. (2007). Gubernatorial Power: The Institutional Power Ratings for the 50 Governors of the United States. University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill.

  • State Governors – Additional Resources
  • Link:

Description: For additional citations of research focusing on U.S. state governors (e.g., gubernatorial power, campaigns, elections, job approval ratings, etc.), visit Rutgers’ Center on the American Governor, a project of the Eagleton Institution of Politics.

  • Area Health Resources File (AHRF)
  • Sources: Area Health Resources Files (AHRF) 2014-2015. US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Workforce, Rockville, MD.

Link:

Description: The Area Health Resources Files (AHRF) are an extensive county-level database assembled annually from over 50 sources. The AHRF products include county and state-level files, as well as mapping tools for comparisons on data pertaining to health care professionals, hospitals and healthcare facilities, and the environment.

  • State Legislative Committee Power
  • Source: Hamm, Keith E., Ronald D. Hedlund, and Nancy Martorano. 2006. “Measuring State Legislative Committee Power: Change and Chamber Differences in the 20th Century.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly, 6(1): 88–113.
  • State House Speaker’s Formal Powers
  • Source: Mooney, Christopher Z. 2013. “Measuring State House Speakers’ Formal Powers, 1981-2010.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly, 13(2): 262–73.

Hamm and Moncrief’s (2013) summated rating scale, based upon Clucas (2001) and Martorano (2004). The scale includes measures of the Speaker’s powers with respect to appointments, committees, procedures, and tenure.

  • Source: Ballard, Charles, Paul L. Menchik and Lu Tan. Forthcoming. “The State(s) of Income Inequality: Changes in Income Distribution in the U.S. States and Census Divisions, 1976-2008” Journal of Income Distribution.
  • Links:

Description: The dataset provides changes in levels of income inequality across the U.S. fifty states.

  • The State Supreme Court Data Project (1995 – 1998)
  • Source: Rice University, Michigan State University, 2009, “State Supreme Court Data Project”, Harvard Dataverse, V1

Link:

Description: The State Supreme Court Data Project created a data base containing information on State Supreme Court decisions in all fifty states during their 1995 through 1998 sessions. This archive contains 21,000 decisions reached by over 400 state supreme court justices seated during those years. To compile these data, the authors developed a coding scheme using Microsoft ACCESS that allowed them to enter information directly into computers with a remarkable degree of reliability. The coding rules, the template, and the reliability scores achieved in test runs of the data entry process are documented and can be read by clicking on the links above. All tests reveal these data are valid and reliable and thus will facilitate rigorous scientific inquiry. This data base is the most comprehensive collection of data on state supreme courts compiled to date. In addition to the data on the decisions themselves, the authors assembled biographical data from published sources for all justices sitting in 1995 through 1998. Researchers may link the decisional and biographical date with measures of institutional structure and state contextual influences to perform rigorous comparative analyses of state supreme courts.

  • Court Statistics Project, Information about State Courts and Caseloads
  • Link:

Description: The Court Statistics Project (CSP)—a joint project of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA)—publishes caseload data from the courts of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These data are provided by the offices of the state court administrator in those jurisdictions. The data reported here conform to the definitions and case counting rules in the State Court Guide to Statistical Reporting (Guide). States publish their own data that may be more extensive, although not directly comparable to other states for a variety of reasons, including differences in court structure, case definitions and counting practices, court rules, statutes, or terminology.