We've lost that family feeling: The changing norms of the new breed of state legislators

Objective. State legislatures have undergone substantial change in the past three decades. Institutional and individual changes have been driven by attempts to accommodate the legislative agendas and political ambitions of the "new breed" of state legislator. Given these changes, one may hypothesize that there have been corresponding changes in the "informal" rules of legislative life - legislative norms - which define acceptable legislative behavior. Methods. The authors conducted a survey of all state legislators who had served for 15 years or longer. Of the 747 legislators in the target population, 330 responded (44 percent). All states were represented. The median years served among respondents was 21. Results. The results indicate that longtime legislators perceive substantial changes have occurred during their tenures in many aspects of legislative life. These changes are most pronounced in behavior toward the institution and, to a lesser extent, group-related norms. There is little perceived change in interpersonal norms. Finally, there is strong evidence that perceived change in norms is related to the degree of legislative professionalism. Conclusions. The findings are consistent with theoretical expectations. As legislatures adapted, first in response to external societal pressures and then in response to internal stresses, legislative norms and behaviors were modified to accommodate changing member expectations and ambitions.