After reading this chapter, you should be able to understand:

• the procedures available to legislators for blocking legislation
• why the legislative process can be extremely slow
• the core functions of state legislatures
• which groups affect the legislative process and why
• the role of constituent service
• the structure of state legislatures
• the redistricting process and the potential problems with this process
• the demographic and professional composition of state legislatures
• how professional and part-time legislatures differ
• how the public and individual legislators view the effectiveness of term limits