PARTISAN POLARIZATION IN THE US REGIONAL LEGISLATURES

This paper examines party polarization in the United States. The approach used in the study has never been applied to the issue in question before. I focus on the lower houses of state legislatures and select four conditions that hypothetically influence the level of party polarization in such a way that one group of states is more likely to have a higher level of polarization of their legislatures than another. The research method used is Cluster QCA, a qualitative comparative analysis that allows working with panel data. The chronological framework of the study is limited to 2010–2016. According to the analysis, none of the conditions are specifically necessary. However, I find two configurations that serve as sufficient conditions for the stated positive outcome: first, a high level of non-citizens in the territory of the state along with the permission of unlimited donations from individual donors to finance election campaigns; second, a high proportion of safe districts along with term limits and a permission for unlimited do-nations from individual donors; third, a high proportion of safe districts together with term limits and a high level of non-citizens. However, the results obtained do not only confirm the importance of certain determinants in relation to the degree of party polarization but also indicate the significance of their presence in the form of the identified combinations.