Results by title
77 books match the query 'States' and 3 start with a
A History of American Legislatures, 1619-2024
Peverill Squire
University of Missouri Press, 2026
What might the members of the first Virginia assembly think if they could visit today’s Virginia House of Delegates? The air-conditioning and diversity of the current membership surely would surprise them, but would the legislative process itself strike them as odd?
In his latest work, Peverill Squire demonstrates that the way the modern legislature goes about its work would seem familiar to visitors from the past. Squire traces a nearly uninterrupted path from that first assembly in Virginia in 1619 to the contemporary Virginia General Assembly, and to the U.S. Congress and the other forty-nine state legislatures.
Each chapter examines discrete topics rather than historical eras, distinguishing the book from other studies of American legislatures. Topics covered include the fundamentals of legislative structure and operation, how qualification standards for legislative service became more inclusive, and how legislative professionalization unfolded at both congressional and state levels.
Though covering more than 400 years, Squire manages to present a comprehensive and accessible history of American legislatures that both scholars and students will find valuable.
A Prelude to the Welfare State
The Origins of Workers' CompensationPrice V. Fishback and Shawn Everett Kantor
University of Chicago Press, 2000
In this highly original and persuasive work, Price V. Fishback and Shawn Everett Kantor challenge widespread historical perceptions, arguing that, rather than being an early progressive victory, workers' compensation succeeded because all relevant parties—labor and management, insurance companies, lawyers, and legislators—benefited from the legislation. Thorough, rigorous, and convincing, A Prelude to the Welfare State: The Origins of Workers' Compensation is a major reappraisal of the causes and consequences of a movement that ultimately transformed the nature of social insurance and the American workplace.
Administering Justice
Placing the Chief Justice in American State PoliticsRichard L. Vining Jr. and Teena Wilhelm
University of Michigan Press, 2023
Administering Justice examines the leadership role of chief justices in the American states, including how those duties require chief justices to be part of the broader state political environment. Vining and Wilhelm focus extensively on the power of chief justices as public spokespersons, legislative liaisons, and reform leaders. In contrast to much existing research on chief justices in the states, this study weighs their extrajudicial responsibilities rather than intracourt leadership. By assessing the content of State of the Judiciary remarks delivered over a period of sixty years, Vining and Wilhelm are able to analyze the reform agendas advanced by chief justices and determine what factors influence the likelihood of success. These analyses confirm that chief justices engage with state politics in meaningful ways and that reactions to their proposals are influenced by ideological congruence with other political elites and the scope of their requests. Administering Justice also examines the chief justice position as an institution, provides a collective profile of its occupants, and surveys growing diversity among court leaders.