Chapter Summary
I. Introduction (654-656)
State and local governments, or subnational governments, touch our lives
every day. Not long ago, states seemed to some like archaic accidents of
history rather than meaningful political entities. Since the early 1960s, states
have become revitalized in their institutions, their personnel, and their role in
the federal system. American states are also characterized by their diversity
as government, policy, and political behavior differ from place to place.
II. State Constitutions (657-659)
A. Introduction
Each state is governed by a separate and unique constitution. Every state
elects a governor. States endow their governors with different powers and
organize and elect their legislatures differently. State constitutions are
subordinate to the U.S. Constitution and the laws of the United States, but
they take precedence over state law. State constitutions often provide far
more detail about specific policies than the federal constitution. Powerful
interest groups have encouraged lengthy constitutions in order to protect their
interests. In states where one political party dominates, the lack of effective
opposition leads to more protection for programs in the constitution.
B. Amending State Constitutions
The most common way that state constitutions are amended is through a
two-step process by which the legislature proposes an amendment and a
majority vote in the next general election ratifies it.
III. State Elections (659-666)
A. Gubernatorial Elections
Gubernatorial races have come to resemble presidential elections. There has
been an increase in the importance of television and money and a de-coupling
of gubernatorial races from presidential races and state political party
organizations. Running for governor now means running on your own. Costs of
gubernatorial campaigns have skyrocketed in recent years. Most of the money
is raised by the candidates, further personalizing the races. A person who
wants to become governor must organize and fund a major campaign in the
primary itself. One result of this personalization of gubernatorial elections has
been less predictability, leading to more divided government. Because voters
now become familiar with gubernatorial candidates during campaigns, they
more frequently vote based on their attitude toward the candidates rather
than resorting to party loyalty.
B. State Legislative Elections
State legislators face small constituencies. Throughout much of the twentieth
century, state legislatures were horribly malapportioned, giving greater
representation to rural areas. Supreme Court decisions in the mid-1960s
changed this. Although state legislators have small districts, they are the least
well known among U.S. voters. This is largely due to the historic lack of
campaign resources and media coverage. Campaigns for the state legislature
have started to become more candidate-centered, although not nearly to the
extent that gubernatorial campaigns have. Incumbent legislators appear to be
more advantaged than they used to be due to enhanced visibility.
In the last twenty years there has been a trend toward increasing party
competition, closer partisan splits, and changing party control in state
legislatures. Increased switching of party control and party competition has led
to more divided control of state government. This has made it more difficult for
coherent policy action to take place. Increased party competition, divided
government, and majority party switching in state legislatures has tended to
increase legislative partisanship and polarize legislative deliberations, thereby
making compromise harder to come by. High levels of party competition tend to
make elected officials more attentive and responsive to voters. Turnover levels
give us an understanding both of how much experience and expertise state
legislators have relative to other political actors in the state and how closely
they are connected to their constituencies. There tends to be significant
change in the people holding state legislative office. Many states have
attempted to increase turnover through formal restrictions on the number of
terms a member may serve.
C. The Changing Face of State Elected Officials
Although most governors tend to be white, married men who are often lawyers,
voters are increasingly electing to state offices a wider variety of people.
Women have made special in-roads into the governors’ offices. State
legislatures too have been looking more and more like the diverse population of
the U.S. Women and men of color are making in-roads in the state and local
offices that may lead to them being elected more frequently to federal position
in the future.
IV. Governors and the Executive Branch (666-670)
A. The Job of Governor
The powers of governors are not always commensurate with citizens’
expectations. Modernization and reform has resulted in enhanced powers for
governors by reducing the number of independently elected officials and
independent commissions in the state executive. Reforms have established
clear line of authority and enhanced governors’ appointment, reorganization,
and budgetary powers. Governors’ powers vary. Extensive civil service and
merit-based employment policies in most states diminish the governor’s power.
The two most important powers of governors are the veto and executive
budget. A governor’s veto is very difficult to override. Most governors also
have the line item veto, which allows them to veto only certain parts of a bill
while allowing the rest of it to pass. Most governors have the power to initiate
the state budget process, allowing him/her to set the agenda for the most
important bills of the state legislative session. The budget sent by the
governor is difficult to change. Governors also have personal powers based on
their character, leadership style, and persuasive abilities. They can build public
support through public relations and the media. Modern governors are bright,
experienced, and capable of managing the diverse problems of a state.
B. Other Executive Officers
Most state voters choose a lieutenant governor. In many states it is possible
for the two top state executives to be political rivals or even members of
different political parties. Other elected executive positions often include the
attorney general, treasurer, secretary of state, and auditor. Every state has
undertaken some kind of reorganization of the executive branch in the last
decade, but this has seldom resulted in cost saving and efficiency.
V. State Legislatures (670-672)
State legislatures are far more active, informed, representative, and
democratic today than they were forty years ago. State legislatures make
almost all of the basic laws of the state, appropriate money, oversee the
activities of the executive branch, and see to the needs of their constituents.
State legislators almost always live permanently among the people they
represent. Recent reforms have improved the efficiency and effectiveness of
state legislatures. Legislative sessions have been lengthened to give legislators
more time to deal with problems, legislative salaries have increased so they
can devote more time to states’ business, and legislators have increased the
staff available to them. Not all states have professionalized their legislatures to
the same level and not all are full-time, professional bodies. Those states that
have developed professional legislatures tend to be those with large and
heterogeneous populations.
VI. State Court Systems (673-675)
A. State Court Organization
State court systems often developed as a hodge-podge of individual courts set
up at odd times and for odd reasons. In the past, efforts have been made to
consolidate and coordinate many state courts systems. Specialized courts
have been consolidated and subsumed into trial courts with more general
jurisdiction. Many states have moved toward coordinating their court systems
through their court of last resort. These are the court of final appeal and are
responsible for administering and regulating the justice system in the state.
Intermediate courts of appeal are organized on a regional basis with judges
working in panels of three or more. They help reduce pressure on the state
supreme court of many routine appeals of trial court decisions.
B. Selecting Judges
Judges rise to the bench in the states in a variety of ways. Some are
appointed and some are elected in partisan or non-partisan elections. Electing
judges remains common and controversial. Minority groups and political parties
have made allegations of bias in the judicial selection process. The most recent
wave of judicial selection reforms has been the Merit Plan in which the
governor appoints the state’s judges from a list of persons recommended by
the state bar or a committee of jurists and other officials.
VII. Direct Democracy (675-678)
States have used many forms of direct democracy. The initiative is the purest
form of direct democracy in which a proposal is placed on the ballot after a
petition has received the proper number of signatures. The initiative allows for
the adoption of policy that might otherwise be ignored or opposed by
policy-makers in the state legislature and governor’s offices. There is
considerable debate over the wisdom of making state law through initiatives
since they are often poorly drafted and may contain ambiguous or
contradictory provisions. It is also unclear to what extent the initiative process
empowers citizens or merely gives new tools to well-financed interest groups.
In initiative and referendum campaigns, complex public policy questions too
often are reduced to simplistic sloganeering. The referendum is a legislative
resolution presented to the voters in a general election. It is commonly used
for amendments to the state constitution and school bonds. The recall allows
voters to call a special election for a specific official in an attempt to throw
him or her out of office before the end of his or her term. It is infrequently
undertaken successfully. Those who have been recalled have been accused of
a serious breach of propriety, morals, or ethics, and often are local officials or
judges serving long terms.
VIII. State and Local Government Relations (678-679)
Intergovernmental relationships have evolved the past 200 years through
statutes passed by Congress, constitutional amendments, Supreme Court
rulings, Civil War, and tradition. The intergovernmental relationship between
states and their local governments are also important. Local governments are
totally subservient to the state government. Dillon’s Rule states that local
governments have only those powers that are explicitly given to them by the
states. Local governments are never mentioned in the U.S. Constitution. Their
role is left as a reserved power for the states. States have the constitutional
authority to establish local governments, define their responsibilities and
powers, specify their organization, and mandate the way in which their officials
are chosen. The power of local government arises from informal political clout
rather than formal powers. Local government officials of all stripes form
interest groups to lobby state officials. Many cities have also managed to get
state legislatures to grant them a degree of autonomy in their local charter.
This is called home rule.
IX. Local Governments (679-686)
A. Types of Local Government
There are five basic types of local governments. Counties are the largest
geographic unit of government at the local level. They are the administrative
arms of state government and usually run by an elected county commission.
Township governments have limited powers and mainly just assist with county
services in rural areas. Municipalities or cities, supply most local programs and
services for more than 19,275 communities in the United States. Originally,
many municipalities were run with a special form of direct democracy called the
town meeting. There are three modern forms of municipal government. In a
mayor-council government, residents elect a mayor and a city council. In
council-manager government, voters elect a city council, and sometimes a
mayor who often acts as both presiding officer and member of the council. The
implementation and administration of the council’s actions are run by an
appointed city manager. In commission government, voters elect a panel of
city commissioners, each of whom serves as both legislator and executive.
Most city council members and many mayors are elected in nonpartisan usually
at-large elections. Minority group members have had difficulty gaining election
to the city council in at-large elections.
In independent school districts, voters are responsible for their own public
education system. State governments adopt general standards for education,
mandate certain school programs, and provide a system of state financial
assistance to public schools. School districts have become the locus for many
emotionally charged issues at the local level.
The fastest growing form of local government is the special district that
provides only a single service. There is no model of special district government
organization. Special districts are, to a great extent, invisible governments;
the local press rarely covers their operations, and there is little direct public
participation in their decision making.
B. Fragmentation, Cooperation, and Competition
Each governing body in a fragmented metropolis tends to look at problems from
its own narrow perspective. Local bodies fail to cooperate with one another
and plan effectively for the region’s future needs. Regional cooperation on
specific policy areas has been undertaken through the use of special districts.
But there are limits on the number of special districts that can be established
efficiently and the level of coordination that these districts can achieve. For
the most part, the prospects for promoting regional cooperation to correct the
inequalities and coordination problems that result from metropolitan
fragmentation have been dim. The U.S. lacks the strong tradition of regional
planning found in Europe. Americans tend to move to places that reflect their
values, exacerbating regional coordination. There are often conflicts between
the preferences and needs of suburbanites and city dwellers on taxes, roads,
and central city services. Local governments are engaged in serious
competition for economic development. However, local governments can
cooperate with one another when they find it in their mutual interest to do so.
In many areas of the country, a council of governments exists wherein officials
from various localities meet to discuss mutual problems and plan joint,
cooperative action.
X. State and Local Finance Policy (686-688)
State government revenues are derived from a variety of sources. These
include, in order, taxes (sales taxes, income taxes, and motor vehicle and fuel
taxes), intergovernmental revenue (federal grants), state insurance programs,
and charges and fees for services. State money goes to operate state
programs, construct state buildings, provide assistance to individuals, and aid
local governments. Local government finances can be confusing. Local
governments receive their revenues from taxes (mainly property taxes), user
charges, and intergovernmental aid. Local governments allocate their moneys
to public education, health and social services, and public safety. Local
government is expected to provide two of the most important and broadly used
services of all government in the U.S.--education and public safety. State
governments are in charge of making sure that the poorest of the state’s
citizens have their basic physical needs met.
XI. Understanding State and Local Governments (688-691)
A. Democracy at the Sub-National Level
The very existence of so many governments to handle complex as well as
ordinary services testifies to the health of our democracy. Local governments
encourage individual participation in government and promote the values of
individualism at the local level. The states also operate in an open
policy-making environment. Many states officials are elected to office and
many forms of direct democracy are available. However, politics at the state
level is poorly covered by the media and is relatively invisible to the public.
Voters can hardly hold elected officials accountable if they know little about
what is going on in the state capital. Voter turnout is very low at the state
and local level. Competition between sub-national governments for economic
development raises questions about democracy. State and local governments
have subsidized business growth and economic development, often at the cost
of slighting redistributional services and human resource needs. Term
limitations also raise questions about democracy. Although they limit the power
of career politicians, they also constrain voter choice. The workings of
democracy are often difficult to see in the judicial branch of state government,
which is seldom visible to the public until a significant case or decision is
announced.
B. The Scope of Sub-National Government
Growth in sub-national government employment has proceeded at a pace
exceeding that of the federal government for most of this century. Reform and
professionalization of sub-national government has not resulted in smaller
government. Most state governments have experimented with sunset
legislation, which involves periodically reviewing agencies to control the growth
of government and eliminate unneeded programs. As citizens demands have led
to growth and development in the areas of technology, communications, and
public health and safety, sub-national governments have had to grow, not
diminish. With greater responsibilities thrust upon them by the federal
government and the demands of their citizens, the states and their local
governments have responded by enhancing their capacity to provide services
to their citizens. Sub-national governments are stronger and more effective
than ever before, but also more extensive and expensive.
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