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Objectives for Week Four

Objectives for Week Four. State Government Basics History of State Governmental Institutions and Policy-making Roles of Governors and Legislators Department of Social and Human Services Case Study. State Legislatures Prior to 1960s. Malapportionment and Gerrymandering

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Objectives for Week Four

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  1. Objectives for Week Four • State Government Basics • History of State Governmental Institutions and Policy-making • Roles of Governors and Legislators • Department of Social and Human Services Case Study

  2. State Legislatures Prior to 1960s • Malapportionment and Gerrymandering • Structure of institutions shapes policy-making activity • Favortism, patronage, and poor capacity to act • Baker v. Carr (369 U.S. 186) 1962 • Reynolds v. Sims (377 U.S. 533) 1964

  3. Professionalization of State Legislatures After 1960s • Improving the formal rules governing legislative operation and decision-making • Reducing favortism and malapportionment • Strengthening capacity of members to perform policy-making duties • Time • Staff • Committees • Rise of career-oriented legislators

  4. Length of Legislative Sessions in Michigan, 1835 to 1980

  5. Legislative Productivity in Michigan, 1959 and 1969

  6. Committee System as Backbone of State Legislature • Role of Committees in Legislature • Why Join Certain Committees? • Committees and Professionalism

  7. Number of Committees in Michigan, 1901-2000

  8. Substantive Shift in Michigan Legislature, 1969 & 1998

  9. Why Does Heightened LegislativeProfessionalization Matter?

  10. What Factors Shape a Legislator’s Voting Behavior?

  11. The Role of Governors • Historical Mistrust of Governors • Resurgence of Governors in 1970s • Gubernatorial Powers • Formal powers • Informal powers • Governors = + Professional Today • Constraints on Gubernatorial Powers

  12. Executive Branch Reorganization • Trend in 1970s to Reorganize Executive Branch Agencies • Consolidation of Agencies • Expansion of Executive Discretion and Power • Factors Driving Reorganization Initiatives

  13. Initial WA-DSHS Questions • Why is political conflict bad for an agency, but good for a legislature? • What are the advantages & disadvantages of being a large state agency? • How can you get legislators to feel ownership over a program that otherwise seems distant? • What was Gibbs strategy to arriving at a budget recommendation for the Governor?

  14. Group WA-DSHS Questions • How would you structure the hearings? • How would you work to retain what is most important to DSHS and its clients? • What factors affect the ease with which you can reduce the DSHS budget? • How would you explain your vote if you were a: • Rural legislator in a depressed farming area • Urban legislator in a mixed-income Seattle district

  15. Readings for Next Week • Chapters One through Three, The Price of Federalism, Paul Peterson • Chapter One, When Federalism Works, Paul Peterson, Barry Rabe, and Kenneth Wong • Chapter One, American Federalism: Competition Among Governments, Thomas Dye • Two Page Memo on Final Paper Topic due in Week Six • Brief background on the topic you have selected • Specify the questions you are asking • Identify how intergovernmental relationships are relevant • Outline how you anticipate moving forward with your work

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