Irresistible force : the impact of state task forces on legislative outputs

Abstract

While task forces have been utilized numerous times by state lawmakers, the literature on task forces has not rigorously tested their impact on legislative outputs. This dissertation will first review the number and types of task forces created by examining governors' executive orders across 29 states. Then test their impact on legislative outputs by examining three case studies in various policy environments. This dissertation discovers that the presence of a task force appears to have little effect on legislative outputs when controlling for its recommendation to state legislatures or its membership composition. This finding illustrates that task forces may have a substantive impact on the policymaking process. Furthermore, this study finds that interest groups may serve as members of a task force and/or influence its recommendation to achieve their policy goals. This study demonstrates the importance to examine an institution that past studies indicated was symbolic and nothing more.