Predictors of State Legislators' Attitudes toward Public Affairs Television in the State Capital

Abstract

Television programming is one means by which citizens gain access to the halls of government. A survey of state legislators finds that lawmakers generally support expanding television coverage of legislative proceedings to include gavel-to-gavel programming. Among the fifteen independent variables employed in this study to predict legislators' views, “public factors” - public confidence in the legislative institution and citizens' preference for more coverage - had the greatest impact on legislators' attitudes toward gavel-to-gavel public affairs programming. Overall, the findings are encouraging in terms of opening up the political process to citizens.