Introduction: studying public opinion in the American states / by Jeffrey E. Cohen -- Does familiarity breed contempt? examining the correlates of state-level confidence in the federal government / by Paul Brace and Martin Johnson -- State residency, state laws, and public opinion / by Barbara Norrander and Clyde Wilcox -- Mexican-American and Cuban-American public opinion: differences at the state level?" / by David L. Leal -- Public opinion in the states: determinants of legislative job performance / by John A. Hamman -- The state economy, the national economy, and gubernatorial popularity / by Jeffrey E. Cohen and James D. King -- Ideological cleavage, political competition, and policy making in the American states / by Charles J. Barrilleaux -- The civil state: trust, polarization, and the quality of state government / by Eric M. Uslaner -- Public opinion and policymaking in the culture wars: is there a connection between opinion and state policy on gay and lesbian issues? / by Donald Haider-Markel and Matthew S. Kaufman -- Citizen influences on state policy priorities: the interplay of public opinion and interest groups / by Saundra K. Schneider and William G. Jacoby -- State level opinions from national surveys: post-stratification using multilevel logistic regression / David K. Park, Andrew Gelman, and Joseph Bafumi -- Public opinion in the states: a quarter century of change and stability / by Robert Erikson, Gerald Wright, and John McIver -- Conclusions: where we have been, where should we go" / by Jeffrey E. Cohen.