I just came back from the 13th annual State Politics and Policy Conference, held this year in Iowa City, Iowa. … The lessons we glean from state politics are actually incredibly valuable for people concerned with American politics. The U.S. state political systems are all largely based on the federal government, but they feature interesting variations and quirks that offer useful lessons about things like governing structures, representation, regulations, reform, and so on.
Anyway, here are a few interesting things I learned during my visit to the conference this year. I’ve linked the relevant paper or poster where available. [cont.]
Seth Masket (U. of Denver), Pacific Standard