Institutional Attachments and Patterns of Ambition in State Legislatures

• Published date: 01 August 2023
• Author: Bethany Bowra,Todd Makse
• Date: 01 August 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/lsq.12400

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LEGISLATIVE STUDIES QUARTERLY, 48, 3, August 2023

DOI: 10.1111/lsq.12400

BETHANY BOWRA

Florida International University

TODD MAKSE

Florida International University

Institutional Attachments and Patterns

of Ambition in State Legislatures

Studies of ambition often frame decisions to run for reelection, seek higher

office, or retire in terms of the nature of those opportunities and the risks asso-

ciated with them. However, career decisions can also be framed in terms of the

value of one’s present position, which depends on what we refer to as institutional

attachments. In contrast to institutional positions (leadership, committee chairs),

institutional attachments relate to social position in the legislature. In this article,

we explore how factors related to institutional attachments influence career deci-

sions. Specifically, we ask whether a legislator’s cohort, including its size, com-

patibility, and experience in possessing majority status affect the propensity to

exhibit static ambition. Looking at a sample of more than 5500 state legislative

open- seat opportunities in 47 states between 2003 and 2016, we find some but not

all these traits are predictive of career decisions.

Understanding the career choices of legislators offers crucial

insights into the functioning of the legislatures in which they serve.

Patterns of ambition determine the level of legislative turnover,

which, in turn, affects outcomes including legislative production

(Rogers 2005), institutional knowledge (Kousser 2005), committee

stability (Makse2014), and fiscal policy (Uppal and Glazer 2015).

In addition, ambition influences a variety of legislative behaviors,

such as roll- call voting (Hibbing 1999), legislative entrepreneur-

ship (Herrick and Moore 1993; Victor 2011), and service (Dynes et

al. 2021), as well as attitudes about representation (Maestas2003).

While previous research has explored the three main forms

of ambition— static, progressive, and discrete (Schlesinger1966)—

from a variety of angles, one largely missing perspective is the role

of social factors. One reason for this may be a subtle framing

choice— many studies of career decision- making ask why legisla-

tors seek higher office (e.g., Rohde1979) or retire (e.g., Bernstein

and Wolak 2002; Egerod N.D. ), as opposed to asking why they

© 2022 Washington University in St. Louis.

562 Bethany Bowra and Todd Makse

remain in their current position. In light of increased attention to

networks and relationships in legislatures more generally (see e.g.,

Ringe et al. 2013), our understanding of ambition stands to ben-

efit from considering the interpersonal benefits of static ambition.

We argue that legislators’ career decisions will be influenced

by what we refer to as institutional attachments. In contrast to

institutional positions (e.g., leadership, committee chairs), institu-

tional attachments relate to one’s social position in the legislature

and how that position has changed over time. More specifically, we

focus on members’ legislative cohorts— the set of individuals with

whom a legislator begins their legislative service— as a key source

of institutional attachments, due to their shared experience being

socialized into the institution. While a few studies of Congress

have drawn on the idea of legislative cohorts (e.g., Loomis and

Barnett2014), especially work on the so- called Gingrich Senators

(Ragusa2016; Theriault 2013; Theriault and Rohde2011), the po-

tential of studying legislative cohorts remains largely untapped in

the study of both state legislatures and political ambition.

In this article, we explore how several factors related to

institutional attachments influence career decision- making.

Specifically, we ask whether characteristics related to a legislator’s

cohort, including its size, compatibility, and experience in possess-

ing majority status affect the propensity to exhibit static ambition.

We develop a novel approach to sampling in the study of ambition

by focusing on what we refer to as meaningful progressive ambition

opportunities (hereafter, MPAOs): cases where a legislator’s current

constituency overlaps an open seat for a higher legislative office.

Looking at a sample of more than 5500 MPAOs in 47 states be-

tween 2003 and 2016, we find evidence that some but not all types

of institutional attachments are predictive of career decisions.

Ambition in State Legislatures

Previous research in both state legislatures and in Congress

has explored a variety of factors that may influence individuals’

career decisions, including seeking higher office and retirement,

such as political factors, institutional factors, and external fac-

tors. Naturally, the attractiveness of remaining in office or ob-

taining another office will be influenced by ideological fit, as

indicated in work that links progressive ambition and moderation

(Thomsen2014) or links retirement with a lack of “fit” in the party

(Lee and Goff2021). Another important political factor is majority