A content analysis of design characteristics of state lobby disclosure laws

State government and state legislatures are critical entities in the complex environment of government and have an enormous impact on millions of people. State government and state legislatures are major areas in the field of public administration. Public administration focuses on the public interest and implements the requirements of law. This research examines significant design characteristics of state lobbying disclosure laws, such as registration, reporting, and administration through a content analysis of these laws. This analysis reviews various design characteristics of the laws in relationship to variables, such as legislative professionalism, interest group strength, political culture, region, size of state population, size of per capita income of states, and others.; The research provides comparative information on state lobby disclosure laws and specific information on the evaluation of design characteristics of these laws. The research provides a statistical model for investigating state laws and may help to craft better state and federal regulatory/ethics laws by examining the strengths and weaknesses of current state lobby disclosure laws.; The findings of the research are mixed. Several environmental characteristics such as population of the state and corruption do influence design characteristics but even here there are questions about the nature of relationship. A state with strict procedural requirements is more likely to be in the eastern region with an individualistic culture. It is found that professional legislatures are ranked highest in terms of the procedural requirements of the law but non-professional or citizen legislatures are higher in relation to substantive requirements. This research only touches the surface of the examination of characteristics of the laws. These laws and other laws require more addition to the construction and analysis detail. Adopting the language of policy design is important in creating clearer laws and better communication means better implementation.