Ideological change in the Senate When examining the entire group of legislators serving in the State Senate in 2011 and 2013, there are more moderate Senators in 2013 than there were moderate Senators serving in prereform 2011.
Figure 7a: Pre-reform legislator ideological extremity, California Senators (2011 roll calls)
Density of legislators
2 1.5 1 .5 0 0
2 .4 .6 .8 1 Ideological extremism (lower values=moderate, higher values=extreme)
Figure 7b: Post-reform legislator ideological extremity, California Senators (2013 roll calls)
Density of legislators
1.5
1
.5
0 0
2 .4 .6 .8 1 Ideological extremism (lower values=moderate, higher values=extreme)
Figures 7a and 7b show the overall moderation of legislators in the California State Senate in prereform 2011 and in 2013. In 2011, there were both moderate and more extreme Senators, but the majority of Senators were closer to the extreme end of the scale than the moderate portion of the scale. In 2013, this situation reversed as the California Senate had a larger proportion of Senators that were more moderate than extreme. Following the implementation of the political reforms, there were more moderate State Senators in California than in the previous pre-reform period.
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