State Legislative / Judicial Data

Return to Kathleen Bratton's Webpage

Much of my research focuses on state legislative and judicial politics. On this page, you can find data from state courts and state legislatures gathered by myself and my colleagues, that has been used for published research and that is being used for works in progress. I will continue to update the page with new data.

The state high court justice database can be found here. It includes information on the justices that were appointed or elected to each state supreme court from 1965 through 2006, including information on background characteristics (year of birth, race, sex, legal training, prior experience), method used to select that individual justice for the court, date appointed or elected, and date of (and reason for) exit from court. You can find a codebook for the state court database here.

The legislative databases represent data collected from twenty-one state legislatures. Much of the data collection is from an NSF funded project with Kerry Haynie of Duke University and Beth Reingold of Emory University, with some supplementary variables. The data include background characteristics of legislators in 1981, 1985, 1989, 1993, 1997, 2001, and 2005, including sex, race, ethnicity, party affiliation, and seniority, as well as demographic characteristics of districts (where available). We will also be releasing information regarding committee membership and leadership positions, and information regarding the content and final disposition of measures introduced during these years.

To request access to these biographical data, please email one of the co-PIs on this project: Kate Bratton (bratton@lsu.edu), Kerry Haynie (klhaynie@duke.edu), or Beth Reingold (polbr@emory.edu). We will continue to post updates on the timing of the release of the bill data.

I also have supplemental biographical data for several states and years. Click here for information regarding available data.

Published Research & Works in Progress

Legislative / Judicial Politics

Legislative Networks Project

A collaborative project, with Stella Rouse, that examines how legislative networks are shaped by social and political factors.

Intersectionality

An NSF-funded project, with Kerry Haynie and Beth Reingold, examining the intersections of gender, race, and ethcnity in state legislative politics. Also involves work with Natasha Bingham on how the intersection of race and gender influences legislative networks.

Judicial Careers

A research project, with Kaitlyn Sill and Rorie Spill-Solberg, examining gender and judicial elections, as well as the factors that shape when and why legislators and state supreme court judges voluntarily exit state office.

Legislative Careers & Ambition

A research project, with Heather Ondercin, examining the role of gender, race, ethnicity in political ambition and careers. Click here for more information.