An Analysis of the Legislative Ambitions of State Constitutional Convention Delegates

• Published in: The Western political quarterly Vol. 29; no. 3; pp. 425 - 439
• Main Author: Thompson, William N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks, CA University of Utah 01-09-1976; SAGE Publications; University of Utah Press, etc
• Subjects: Ambition; Congresses and Conventions; Delegates; Indexing in process; Legislators; National politics; Political elections; Political parties; Political partisanship; Politicians; Roll call votes; Voting
• ISSN: 0043-4078; 1065-9129; 2325-8675; 1938-274X
• DOI: 10.1177/106591297602900308

This study tests the office powers hypothesis of ambition theory, as conceptualized by Joseph Schlesinger. The post-convention careers of each of the delegates to the Michigan Constitutional Convention of 1961-62, Missouri Convention of 1943-44, and New Jersey Convention of 1947 are identified. Delegates who sought legislative seats are compared with delegates who did not run for the legislature. On roll-call votes concerning legislative powers, legislative aspirants exhibit NO greater inclination to have a stronger legislature than do non-aspirants. Similarly, aspirants are no more likely to have made formal proposals in support of a stronger legislature. The lack of support for the office powers hypothesis leads to a general criticism of ambition theory. Further studies dealing with the central questions generated by ambition theory are strongly recommended so that firm conclusions about the value of ambition theory can be made.