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.