The Legislative Committee System in Arizona
| Date | 01 December 1961 |
| Author | Dean E. Mann |
| Published date | 01 December 1961 |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591296101400408 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
925
THE
LEGISLATIVE
COMMITTEE
SYSTEM
IN
ARIZONA
DEAN
E.
MANN
The
Brookings
Institution
MERICAN
POLITICAL
SCIENTISTS
have
long
noted
the
wide
varia-
tions
in
practice
among
the
governments
of
the
several
states.
While
the
~L
general
outlines
of
the
political
systems
in
the
states
reflect
national
pat-
terns,
the
differences
in
the
party
systems,
the
interest
group
relationships,
and
the
historical
trends
have
caused
dramatic
divergencies
from
the
national
pattern.
In
recent
years,
increased
attention
has
been
paid
to state
legislatures
in
particular
in
an
attempt
to
develop
a
comparative
understanding
of
the
dynamics
of
the
political
systems
at
the
two
levels.’
The
present
study
of
the
Arizona
legis-
lature
is
designed
to
test
some
commonly
held
ideas
derived
from
studies
of
the
Congress
and
other
state
legislatures
about
the
structure
of
the
committee
system.
The
power
structure
of
an
American
legislature
involves
a
complex
distribu-
tion
of
prerogatives
among
various
participants:
the
presiding
officers,
the
com-
mittee
chairmen,
important
committees,
party
officials,
etc.
Each
retains
certain
powers
while
deferring
to
the
others
in
the
operation
of
the
legislature.
While
this
distribution
is
comparatively
well
known
in
the
Congress,
little
is
known
about
the
dynamics
of
the
system
at
the
state
level.
This
study
is
an
attempt
to cx~
amine
with
more
precision
the
relationships
between
factional
alignments
and
the
distribution
of
committee
assignments
and
committee
chairmanships
in
view
of
the
existing
party
structure
and
the
high
rate
of
turnover
found
in
Arizona.
For
an
understanding
of
the
internal
legislative
structure,
however,
it
will
be
neces-
sary
to
describe
the
existing
political
situation
and
the
state’s
legislative
structure.
Arizona
has
a
bicameral
legislature
consisting
of
a
Senate
of
twenty-eight
members
and
a
House
of
Representatives
of
eighty
members.
The
Senate
provides
two
seats
for
each
of
the
state’s
fourteen
counties
while
the
House
membership
is
apportioned
among
the
counties
on
the
basis
of
population.
Thus,
the
twelve
sparsely
settled
counties
have
twenty-four,
or
86
per
cent,
of
the
twenty-eight
Senate
seats,
while
they
contain
only
31
per
cent
of
the
popu,
lation.
The
House
reflects
much
more
accurately
the
population
of
the
state
in
that
the
two
metropolitan
counties,
Maricopa
(Phoenix)
and
Pima
(Tucson),
have
66
per
cent
of
the
voting
strength
in
the
House
and
69
per
cent
of
the
population.2
2
NOTE:
Research
for
this
article
was
done
under
the
auspices
of
the
Bureau
of
Business
and
Public
Research
at
the
University
of
Arizona
while
the
author
was
a
staff
member
of
the
Bureau.
The
Bureau
will later
publish
a
more
extended
study
of
the
Arizona
legislature.
1
See
for
example,
Robert
T.
Golembiewski,
"A
Taxonomic
Approach
to
State
Political
Party
Strength,"
Western
Political
Quarterly,
XI
(September
1958),
494;
William
J.
Keefe,
"Com-
parative
Studies
of
the
Role
of
Political
Parties
in
State
Legislatures,"
Western
Political
Quarterly,
IX
(March
1956),
726;
W.
Duane
Lockard,
"Legislative
Politics
in
Connecticut,"
American
Political
Science
Review,
XLVIII
(March
1954);
William
J.
Keefe,
"Parties,
Partisanship,
and
Public
Policy
in
the
Pennsylvania
Legislature,"
American
Political
Science
Review,
XLVIII
(June
1954);
Belle
Zeller,
American
State
Legislatures
(New
York:
Crowell,
1954);
Gilbert
Y.
Steiner
and Samuel
K.
Gove,
Legislative
Politics
in
Illinois
(Urbana:
Uni-
versity
of
Illinois
Press,
1960).
2
All
figures
are
based
on
population
reports
in
Arizona
:
Basic
Economic
Data,
1959
(Phoenix:
Arizona
State
Employment
Service,
August
1959).
926
Traditionally
Arizona
is
a
Democratic
state,
although
recent
elections
have
demonstrated
an
increased
willingness
on
the
part
of
the
voters
to
vote
Repub-
lican.
Until
1950
the
Republicans
had
only
twice
captured
the
governorship
(1919-23
and
1929-31).
The
Republicans
have
never
captured
either
house
of
the
legislature.
From
1937
through
1953
there
were
no
Republicans
in
the
Senate
and
for
the
decade
between
1935
and
1945
there
was
never
more
than
one
Republican
in
the
House.3
3
In
the
decade
from
1950
to
1960,
however,
the
Republicans
made
important
advances
in
vote-getting,
particularly
in
the
metropolitan
counties.
(The
coun-
ties
with
smaller
populations
continue
to
retain
their
Democratic
coloration.)
Table
I
indicates
the
increase
in
Republican
legislative
strength
during
the
past
twelve
years.4
4
The
metropolitan
character
of
the
Republican
party
is
demon,
strated
by
the
fact
that
in
the
1959
and
1961
terms
over
90
per
cent
of
the
Republican
members
in
the
House
came
from
Maricopa
and
Pima
counties.
TABLE
I
PARTY
STRENGTH
IN
THE
ARIZONA
LEGISLATURE,
1949-1961
~
The
traditional
domination
of
the
state
by
the
Democratic
party
has
not
led
to
intraparty
harmony.
Zeller
classified
Arizona
as
a
one-party
state
and
among
those
that
were
weak
in
party
cohesion.5
The
Democratic
party
has
been
wracked
by
a
deep
division
between
the
conservatives
(or
Pintos,
as
their
opponents
describe
them)
and
the
liberals.
This
split
has
affected
directly
the
organization
and
structure
of
the
legislature
because
the
Democrats
frequently
split
into
two
camps,
often
with
greater
hostility
between
these
factions
than
between
either
Democratic
faction
and
the
Republicans.
The
crucial
division
between
the
Democratic
factions
usually
occurs
over
the
election
of
the
Speaker
of
the
House
and
the
President
of
the
Senate.
These
divisions
take
place
either
on
the
House
floor
or
in
the
biennial
party
caucus
held
just
prior
to
the
opening
of
the
new
term.
They
then
manifest
themselves
in
voting
on
legislation,
assignments
to
committees,
and
questions
of
procedure.
3
The
closest
the
Republicans
came
to
controlling
the
legislature
was
in
1921
when
they
had
9
of
the
19
seats
in
the
Senate
and
19 of
the
39
in
the
House.
4
By
a
constitutional
amendment
adopted
in
1953,
the
membership
of
the
Senate
was
increased
from
19
to
28
and
the
membership
of
the
House
was
limited
to
80
after
1955.
In
an
age
when
most
states
are
concerned
about
reapportionment
to
provide
for
increased
representa-
tion
for
urban
areas,
Arizona
actually
reduced
urban
strength
in
the
Senate
by
giving
each
county
an
equal
number
of
seats.
5
Op.
cit.,
p.
190.
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