Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2007, Political Science

The principal purpose of this research is to explain and to analyze the policy preferences of Black and White state legislators in the Ohio General Assembly. In particular, the study seeks to understand whether or not Black state legislators advocate a distinctive policy agenda through an analysis of their policy preferences and bill sponsorship patterns. Essentially, one of the central objectives of the study is to determine the extent to which legislators' perceptions of their policy preferences actually correspond with their legislative behavior (i.e., bill sponsorship patterns). In addition to understanding the impact of race upon legislative preferences, I also analyze additional factors (e.g., institutional features, district characteristics, etc.) which potentially influence legislators' policy preferences and legislative behavior. The data for this inquiry derive from personal interviews with members of the Ohio legislature conducted in the early to late 1990's and legislative bills introduced in the 1998-1999 session. The analyses of these data suggest that Black state legislators exhibit distinctive agenda setting behavior measured in terms of their policy priorities and bill sponsorship patterns in comparison to White state legislators. Black legislators are significantly more likely to prioritize race-based policy issues relative to White state legislators. In addition, the findings indicate that Black legislators support policy priorities which are generally consistent with traditional legislative decisionmaking. Hence, Black legislators balance “dual representational roles” as both race representatives and responsible legislators. The results also suggest that the policy priorities of legislators parallel their bill sponsorship activity. Black legislators are proportionately more likely to sponsor Black interest (i.e., racial justice) legislation than White state legislators. The evidence also indicates that the majority of bill proposals (i.e., both B (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: William Nelson, Jr. (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General