Browsing by Author "Brunell, Thomas L."
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Item How do State-Level Environmental Policies Impact the Voting Behavior of National Legislators?(Wiley, 2018-11-27) Brunell, Thomas L.; Cease, Brett; Brunell, Thomas L.Objective We investigate whether state-level policy adoption of environmental regulations leads to nationalization of similar policies and, if so, the mechanisms by which members of Congress are incentivized to vote strategically. Method We examine several key environmental policies (i.e., renewable portfolio standards and regional cap-and-trade agreements) and utilize historical state-level inventories and congressional roll-call votes in our analysis. Results We demonstrate that Democratic and Republican members of the U.S. House in both scenarios were much more likely-even after controlling for ideology and constituency preferences-to vote in favor of increasing environmental regulations if their home state already put such a policy in place. Conclusion In a new political era where federalism within environmental policy is being reimagined, the lessons learned from the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill and the Udall RPS Amendment teach us of the importance of state-level initiatives serving as powerful drivers for increasing pressure for federal adoption.Item Leveling Up: Measuring the Effects of Election Laws and Institutions on Voter Participation(2022-08-01T05:00:00.000Z) Muenks, Patrick S; Brunell, Thomas L.; Maxwell, Sarah; Lowry, Robert C.; Cordell, Rebecca; Gray, ThomasWhat effect do election laws and administration have on voter turnout? How do we measure voter turnout? This dissertation attempts to answer these questions by measuring the effect of various election laws and policies on voter turnout at three distinct levels of measurement. In Chapter 2, an original measure which captures the effects of state election laws is developed and its effect on turnout is tested at statewide level. In Chapter 3, a novel dataset of substate level turnout is developed at the county level. The resulting dataset is tested to see if the effects of election laws on turnout are consistent at both the statewide and county levels. In Chapter 4, using voter registration records from Texas, the effects of convenience voting measures, such as drive-through voting and 24-hour voting locations, are examined to see if their use increases the likelihood of an individual voting. The results show that Harris County’s efforts to making voting easier and safter increased turnout, especially among young voters.Item 'Stereotyping' the American Electorate: An Examination of what Drives Turnout in the Electoral Periphery(2020-08) Parker, Misty Dawn; Brunell, Thomas L.What motivates an individual to vote in one election but abstain in another? With its division of the electorate into core components (consistent voters or non-voters) and the periphery (inconsistent voters), Campbells core and periphery model provides a useful theory to investigate this question. Methodologically, Campbells approach not only relies upon self-reporting, but its operationalization of the electorate does not reflect the theory of the concepts being measured. This dissertation establishes a methodology to disaggregate the core and peripheral components of the electorate, enhancing the ensuing measurement schemes construct validity. Using a stereotype regression, a rarely-used class of logistic regression models designed to measure distances between ordered categories of a dependent variable, I validate this novel approach. This disaggregation scheme is then used to profile the core and peripheral electorates and investigate voting behavior of the dynamic periphery.