Arizona Legislative Branch Case Study

1. Describe the structure of Arizona’s legislative branch in the state government including the number of members in each house, who elects them, who draws up the boundaries, and when and how those boundaries are drawn. What are the qualifications for-and limitations to-serving in the legislature?

Arizona’s legislative branch is bicameral (i.e. made up of two chambers) called the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate members are called senators, and the House members are called representatives. The legislative members are elected by a group of Arizonans called their constituents. The state is broken up into 30 districts with each district having one senator and two representatives. This makes a total of 90 Arizona legislators. To be eligible for a two year term of service, a candidate must be: a U.S. citizen, at least 25 years of age, a three year resident of Arizona, a one year resident of the district they intend to represent, and English proficient. (McCLory, 2010) The legislative representative may then serve up to eight consecutive years in the same office, but may run again for another office in the opposite chamber than the one they had previously served.
Voting districts in Arizona have historically been determined by land mass, population, and party affiliation. However, this created an unfair advantage to
This process is initiated through public support in the form of petitions. To propose new or change current laws, the initiator is required to obtain 10% support of all voters that participated in the last gubernatorial election, which equates roughly to 150,000 signatures. To amend a state constitution, it requires 15% of the voters in the last gubernatorial election, or roughly 225,000 signatures.(Office of Secretary of State 1) If these qualifications are met, then the initiative would appear on the next