Politics and Governments of the American States – serie

Nebraska Government and Politics offers an in-depth examination of the connection between the political culture, traditions, and heritage of Nebraska and its governmental institutions. This new edition discusses federalism, constitutionalism, and the continuing American frontier, paying special attention to the effects and frameworks of Nebraska’s political culture. The contributors emphasize enduring trends and issues through Nebraska’s history as they examine the cultural foundations of the state’s political institutions, the major governmental structures in the state, and the political and administrative relationships at play. The chapters cover periodic populism, the state constitution, nonpartisanship and direct democracy, budgeting and financial policies, the unicameral, the executive branch, local government, political culture, and capital punishment.Robert Blair, Christian L. Janousek, and Jerome Deichert provide a long view of Nebraska, a state whose unique political culture is reflected in its institutions.

Tucked between the larger commonwealths of Pennsylvania and Virginia and overshadowed by the political maneuverings of its neighbor, Washington, D.C., Maryland has often been overlooked and neglected in studies of state governmental systems. With the publication of Maryland Politics and Government, the challenging demographic diversity, geographic variety, and dynamic Democratic pragmatism of Maryland finally get their due. Two longtime political analysts, Herbert C. Smith and John T. Willis, conduct a sustained inquiry into topics including the Maryland identity, political history, and interest groups; the three branches of state government; and policy areas such as taxation, spending, transportation, and the environment. Smith and Willis also establish a "Two Marylands" model that explains the dominance of the Maryland Democratic Party, established in the post–Civil War era, that persists to this day even in a time of political polarization. Unique in its scope, detail, and coverage, Maryland Politics and Government sets the standard for understanding the politics of the Free State (or, alternately, the Old Line State) for years to come.

Survey after survey reveals that many Coloradans believe that the U.S. government is too big, too wasteful, and too intrusive. Yet Colorado is arguably one of the most federally subsidized states in the union, with forests, national parks, military bases, and research laboratories benefiting from the federal government's largesse.A concise history of Colorado's constitution and central political institutions, Colorado Politics and Policy offers a probing analysis of the state's political cultures. It shows how the state, in many ways a template of the deeply contrary politics of the nation, puts political power into the hands of an ever-more-polarized electorate increasingly inclined to put the concerns of government to the test of the citizen-initiative. Colorado Politics and Policy is the result of broad-gauged and sophisticated research which includes author interviews with citizens and officials across the state, three specially commissioned statewide public opinion surveys, and extensive interviews with governors, legislators, judges, lobbyists, interest group leaders, and leading political analysts.This fresh and engaging interpretation is essential reading for those who want to understand Colorado's major election trends, chief public policy and budget challenges, and this distinctively purple state's unique political history.

Michigan, like most of the states formed from the old Northwest, originated as a state of farmers, fishermen, and lumbermen and remained so until Detroit emerged as a major industrial center at the turn of the twentieth century. The growth of the automotive industry attracted new immigrants and new politics. Republican for most of its history, Michigan became a bipartisan state with political divisions: upper versus lower peninsula, agriculture versus industry, labor versus capital, developers versus ecologists, and conflicts between races.  Lansing and its lobbyists and political action committees exemplify modern large-state politics. With double-digit unemployment and an enormous stake in cars, roads, and bridges, Michigan is acutely aware of its ties to the federal government. Two governors, G. Mennen Williams and George Romney, have contended for the presidency, and one representative, Gerald Ford, became president by legislative maneuver. A strong governorship, an independent and experienced bureaucracy, and a full-time legislature have created an activist, policy-directed state government that generally bears little resemblance to the laissez-faire leadership of Michigan's early years.  Although this book provides much historical and geographical information, the primary focus remains Michigan's need to cope with its vacillating economy. The authors look at the state's regional, ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic diversity and show how these are affected by the forces of change.

Published a decade and a half after the late Diane D. Blair's influential book Arkansas Politics and Government, this freshly revised edition builds on her work, which highlighted both the decades of failure by Arkansas's government to live up to the state's motto of Regnat Populus ("The People Rule") and the positive trends of democracy. Since the first edition, Arkansas has seen the two-term U.S. presidency of a native son, the retirement of players who defined the state's politics in the modern era, the further realignment of the state's electorate, the passage of the nation's most extreme legislative term limits, the complete overhaul of the state's court system, and the declaration that the state's public education system was unconstitutionally inadequate and inequitable. While maintaining the basic structure of Blair's original work with its focus on important historical patterns and the ways in which the past continues to shape the present, the second edition details the causes and consequences of recent changes in Arkansas and asks whether they are profound and permanent or merely transitory variations in symbol and style. Jay Barth argues that although Arkansas currently expresses a healthier representative democracy than throughout most of its history, its political and governmental entities are still sharply limited as effective instruments of "the people."

This volume provides a comprehensive analysis of both the historical and the contemporary dimensions of the politics and government of the "First State." Once a sparsely populated, agrarian, and relatively insignificant polity, Delaware has become a densely and diversely populated financial and legal center often called the "corporation capital of the world." Delaware's prime location has been central to its development and transition from a goods-producing economy to a fast-growing, service-based economy. Despite its diminutive size, Delaware is, in many ways, the nation's preferred corporate home. William W. Boyer and Edward C. Ratledge provide an overview of Delaware's history, structure, and present politics and explain why one of the smallest states in the country is also one of the most powerful. Delaware continually promotes pro-business legislation, business and public objectives are entwined, and privatization is a dominant theme in public affairs. The state has an individualistic political order in which public participation is indirect and citizen activism is limited.

The political culture of Oregon has long had a reputation for innovative policy, maverick politicians, and independent political thought, but instead of using the term "progressive" to describe the state's political leanings, the editors of Oregon Politics and Government believe a more accurate descriptor would be "schizophrenic." Oregon Politics and Government provides not only an overview of the state's politics and government; it also explains how the divide between progressives and conservative populists defines Oregon politics today. Early in the state's history, reformers championed many causes: the initiative and referendum process for setting public policy, the recall of public officials, the direct election of U.S. senators, and women's suffrage. Since then, the state has asserted control over beaches, imposed strict land-use laws, created an innovative regional government, introduced voting through the mail, allowed for physician-assisted suicide, and experimented with universal healthcare. Despite this list of accomplishments, however, Oregon is divided between two competing visions: one that is tied to progressive politics and another that is committed to conservative populism. While the progressive side supports a strong and active government, the conservative populist side seeks a smaller government, lower taxes, fewer restrictions on private property, and protection for traditional social values. The struggle between these two forces drives Oregon politics and policies today.

Throughout the twentieth century, Wisconsin won national visibility and praise for its role as a "laboratory of democracy" within the American federal system. In Wisconsin Politics and Government James K. Conant traces the development of the state and its Progressive heritage from the early territorial experience to contemporary times. Conant includes a discussion of the four major periods of institutional and policy innovation that occurred in Wisconsin during the twentieth century as well as an examination of the state's constitution, legislature, office of the governor, courts, political parties and elections, interest groups, social welfare policy, local governments, state-local relations, and current and emerging issues. Readers of Wisconsin Politics and Government are likely to find a close correspondence between Wisconsin's social, economic, and political experience during the twentieth century and the essential democratic characteristics Alexis de Tocqueville describes in his classic work Democracy in America. For example, Wisconsin's twentieth-century civil society was highly developed: its elected and administrative officials continuously sought to improve the state's political and administrative institutions, and they worked to enhance the economic and social conditions of the state's citizens. Other modern characteristics of the state's democratic experience include issue-oriented politics, government institutions operating free of scandal, and citizens turning out to vote in large numbers.

For the first time in decades, here is an in-depth look at Minnesota government and politics, providing a useful overview of the history, structure, and distinctive characteristics of the political system in the North Star State. Minnesota's government is often held up as a role model for other states. Drawing on survey research, electoral analysis, interview data, and political experience, the authors examine contemporary politics in Minnesota, emphasizing in particular its long-standing moralistic dimension. Attention is given to the major components of the state's political system: the constitution, legislature, courts, relationship to both the federal system and local governments, lobbying, elections, campaign finance, and public attitudes toward taxes and services. Equally important, the authors assess various enduring myths and views about Minnesota politics, including its legendary liberalism and citizen involvement in the political scene, and even consider how its new governor, former wrestler Jesse Ventura, fits into Minnesota's traditions.

North Carolina has been a leader in the South and the nation since 1775, when it became "First in Freedom" by calling for its independence from British rule. Throughout its history, the state has had a reputation as a progressive force. This book offers both an assessment and an examination of the realities of the state's leadership. Analyzing a wide range of political actors and organizations, which includes the state legislature, the governor and executive branch, the judiciary, political parties, interest groups, and the media, Fleer illuminates North Carolina's rich political history, its evolving constitutional order, and its changing political culture. Although revealing a pattern of elitist paternalism in the state's political history, the book illustrates a parallel pattern of popular participation and control.Major forces of change are increasingly defining the state. These transitional factors include a significant biracial electorate, a stratified society, a diverse electorate, increasingly varied and mobilized political interest groups, a competitive political party system, and a more representative political leadership.New challenges to the state's future development are its aging population, the preparedness of its work force, the globalization of its economy, the protec-tion of its natural resources, and the education of its children for the next century. Each new political debate, policy choice, and election reminds North Carolinians of their fundamental challenge: establishing a government by enlightened and effective popular consent.

The rich history of Kansas politics continues to generate an abundant literature. The state's beginning as "Bleeding Kansas" followed by Prohibition, populism, the Progressive Era, and the Dust Bowl, through to the present day, have given local and national writers and scholars an intriguing topic for exploration. While historians and biographers shed light on pieces of this history, journalists focus on current political affairs in the state. Rarely, however, are past and present connected to fully illuminate an understanding of Kansas politics and government. This volume uses the prism of political cultures to interpret Kansas politics and disclose the intimate connections between the state's past and its current politics. The framework of political cultures evolves from underlying political preferences for liberty, order, and equality, and these preferences form the basis for the active political cultures of individualism, hierarchy, and egalitarianism. This comprehensive examination of Kansas political institutions argues that Kansas politics, historically and presently, may best be understood as a clash of political cultures.

The authors of Mississippi Government and Politics go beyond the stereotyped view of the Magnolia State to consider the dramatic social, economic, and politi-cal changes taking place there in recent years. Yet the past is inextricably bound up with the present, as Dale Krane and Stephen D. Shaffer make clear in devel-oping their central theme: the ongoing clash in Mississippi between traditional-ists intent on preserving the status quo and progressives who have grown up with the civil rights movement. Mississippi Government and Politics presents a vivid social history and analysis of the state's executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Krane and Shaffer have contributed chapters on the culture of Mississippi and on efforts to modernize the economy and to bring more blacks and poor whites into the power structure. Krane writes about the struggle over public policy, or "who gets what," and the highly ambivalent attitude of Mississippians toward the federal government. Shaffer addresses the role of interest groups in effecting change and the shifting allegiances of political panics in the state.The contributors include leading political scientists and public administrators. Tip H. Allen, Jr., looks at the century-old constitution, and Douglas G. Feig considers the dominance of the legislature and the winds of change blowing through it. Thomas H. Handy describes the traditionally weak governorship. Diane E. Wall threads her way through the antiquated judicial system. Edward J. Clynch sizes up tax policy, and Gerald Gabris delves into the dynamics of local government. The result is the most comprehensive and authoritative book on Mississippi political culture in many years.

Two values often at odds with each other—competition and compassion—dominate New York's political culture. Since the eighteenth century New York has been known for its economic leadership and entrepreneurial opportunities. Its nickname, "the Empire State," reflects the state's continuing role as a national and international center of industry and commerce. Yet New York's political culture, as Daniel J. Elazar has noted, is paradoxically both individualistic and moralistic. Compassion is extended not only toward those unable to compete in the marketplace but also toward the numerous interest groups and institutions—labor, business, nonprofit agencies—that depend on the state's largesse for their own well-being. This distinctive political blend can produce inconsistent yet complementary public policies, such as providing tax incentives for economic development alongside liberal Medicaid benefits. In this excellent overview of New York politics, five distinguished scholars explore the state's paradoxical political culture, examining its local, regional, and national components through the years.

Oklahoma is a plains state exemplifying the Middle American virtues of family, lodge, and church; a southern state in the path of the power shift from the indus-trial East to the energy-rich sunbelt; a western state of modern cowboys and rodeos. Small wonder its political culture is so varied. The authors of Oklahoma Politics and Policies contend that Oklahoma is a paradox—a state struggling for a clear sense of identity where the old and new vie for the allegiance of its citizens. David R. Morgan, Robert E. England, and George O. Humphreys examine the history of Oklahoma and the place of Native Americans in this former Indian Territory; the state's links to the federal government; its executive, legislative, and judicial systems; political parties and interest groups; local government; and the current policy issues that confront its citizens. They assess the attempts of Oklahomans to revive their economy. The 1990s will be bright, the authors sug-gest, if Oklahomans can put aside internal conflicts and the politics of negativism in approaching economic and social problems more pragmatically.

Alaska is the largest and one of the least populated of the fifty states—extremes that create a unique government. Tied together by tiny airports and vast pipelines, the state features abundant natural resources and a remoteness that make it one of the last outposts of the United States, a role that Alaskans savor. Gerald A. McBeath and Thomas A. Morehouse examine Alaska's character and the forces shaping it. Underlying their descriptions are the themes of independence, dependence, and the search for sustainable economic development. While independence and individualism are well-known attributes of Alaskans and their political process, their experience has also been colored by dependency. Alaska was the last region in the New World colonized by Westerners. It was not organized as a territory until 1912 and did not achieve statehood until 1959, evolving in only one generation from a territory with a weak government to a wealthy state with a powerful system of state and local government.McBeath and Morehouse describe the workings of Alaska's government: the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as well as the state's relations with the federal government. The ongoing pattern of federal control and Alaskans' sporadically virulent response to it are emblematic of the tensions between dependence on federal policies and the struggle for equal influence with the other forty-nine states.Geographic barriers, impeding transportation and communication, have left Alaska's regions, communities, and people separated from one another and from the outside. Yet, as Alaska Politics and Government demonstrates, the ability to deal with Alaska's future challenges is found in the vibrant and resilient character of its land and its people.

Penny M. Miller takes a comprehensive approach to Kentucky politics and government. She uses the details of the state's political institutions and processes, its policy issues, and its place in national politics to demonstrate the tension between Kentucky's forces of change and its inertia. Since the Civil War, geographic, economic, and cultural factional divisions have dominated the struggle for progress in the Bluegrass state. Yet Kentucky is in a state of change, and its political institutions have undergone significant transformations in the last few decades. Miller points out that the state's judicial system, long one of the nation's least-altered, has recently become one of its most innovative; the educational system has undergone radical legislative reformation, trying to escape its near last-place national ranking. The legislative branch has gained more independence and autonomy, and its relationship to the executive branch has experienced an enormous readjustment. The state has emerged from its past stereotypes of bourbon, fast horses, burley tobacco, and coal mines. Some things endure, though—political corruption, voter apathy, and an aged constitution. This book, the only comprehensive study of politics and government in Kentucky, illuminates contemporary problems within their historical context and suggests how the state's institutions, policies, politics, and people will formulate the future of Kentucky.

Rhode Island is the smallest state in the union, yet it is also one of the most densely populated. Its political culture has until recently resembled the old-style patronage politics of a city-state. The Ocean State's politics have been highly individualistic, contentious, and distinct from those of surrounding states since its founding by Roger Williams. The state's individualism is embodied in the statue—"The Independent Man"—that stands atop its statehouse. Rhode Island Politics and Government is an essential introduction to the history, structure, and characteristics of politics in Rhode Island. Explained in turn are such components and factors as the state's constitution, general assembly, executive branch, party system, interest groups, budgetary process, and relationship to the federal government. The authors also explore the nature of local government.

Examining politics in Idaho through the lens of ideology (i.e., conservative versus liberal) or partisanship (i.e., Democrat versus Republican) does not illuminate the more fundamental dynamics of the state’s political environment. Unlike other states that are divided on partisan or traditional ideological lines, Idaho tends to be divided between its libertarian and communitarian visions of the role of government and the place of the individual in society.In Idaho Politics and Government, Jasper M. LiCalzi examines the complex world of Idaho politics, where morality dominates but a heartily libertarian strain of individualism keeps lawmakers from falling into the liberal versus conservative dialogue prevalent in other states. After opening with the ultrasound bill failure as a recent example of Idaho’s political culture, LiCalzi traces the influence of individuals and party factions from the 1960s through the present before moving on to the inner workings of government itself, with all its institutions and extra-governmental extensions. He closes with another recent Idaho bill concerning the topics of child support and Sharia (Islamic) law, giving readers yet another glimpse of the workings of Idaho politics and the continuing clash between the community and the individual.Presenting a continuum of political views from an emphasis on the individual (personified by Thomas Jefferson) to a focus on community (personified by Alexander Hamilton), LiCalzi provides a new method for understanding political actions and situations in Idaho.

Hawai'i is in many ways the most unique of the American states. Distinguished by its unusual beauty, ethnic diversity, and lingering image as a paradise, Hawai'i is special for other important, but less apparent, reasons. It is the only American state to have evolved from a kingdom, the only state with no jurisdictions below the level of county, the only state in which Caucasians have never been in the majority, and the only state whose historic identity and contemporary relationships are as much with Asia and the Pacific as with the rest of the United States. The nature and trajectory of Hawaiian politics spring from the interaction of these unique elements with more traditional American cultural practices, institutions, and political processes. Also shaping past and present politics are multiple collisions among Native Hawaiians, western missionaries and businessmen, and Asian immigrants. Hawai'i Politics and Government brings together information on historical development, ethnic relations, public institutions, political culture, and current issues to discover both the similarities and the differences between Hawai'i and the rest of the country.

Remote and thinly populated, Maine was long insulated from many of the demographic and economic trends of states to the south. Maine Politics and Government traces recent changes in the state's system as agriculture, manufacturing, and maritime trades have ceded dominance to high-tech businesses, extensive commercial development, and an expanding governmental sector. This compact overview of Maine politics and government describes how the state's history and political culture have shaped its political processes, its governing institutions, and its public-policy priorities. It also highlights the shift in the role of Maine's governments in the past half century—from low-service entities to administrators of a broad range of public policies. The authors consider the impact of the influx of newcomers along the southern Maine coast, serious financial issues involving burdensome taxation, the pressing need to make the nearly five hundred units of local government more efficient, and problems attending the spread of suburbs throughout the state. Fully updated and expanded, this second edition provides a wealth of new material—maps, case studies, updated demographic information, treatment of new policies and health-care plans, and an overview of the administrations of the two most recent governors.

For most of the nation, Alabama government is emblemized by Governor George Wallace blocking the entry to the University of Alabama, defying court-ordered integration and championing states'-rights slogans. But Wallace's return to power in the 1980s witnessed sweeping social and political changes in Alabama. Today the state for the most part enjoys the aura of "the new South." James D. Thomas and William H. Stewart, both natives of Alabama, bring a detailed sense of its colorful past to their forward-looking book about its government and political institutions. In the course of writing about Alabama's legislative, administrative, and judiciary branches; its local politics; and its historic relations with the federal government, Thomas and Stewart reveal much about life today in this southern state. Low taxes, industrialization and urbanization, the civil rights movement, and a trend toward two-party politics have helped to usher in dramatic changes. Although continued change is in the wind, the authors do not think that Alabama's political institutions will soon lose their distinctive Alabama character, and no book has ever described that better than Alabama Government and Politics.

As unique as is Utah’s formative history of civil and religious conflict, its political institutions today broadly resemble those found in other American states. While its majority Mormon population translates into an enormous Republican advantage in local and national elections, Utahns have taken a more centrist stance on some issues such as immigration, while Utah itself has become the third‑fastest-growing state in the country since 2000. The mostly geographically rural state is demographically urban, and Salt Lake County is now a swing county in some elections.Utah Politics and Government offers an accessible analysis of Utah’s political cultures, starting with the state’s unique pioneer heritage, its development into a secular American state, and its explosive modern growth. The book covers the state constitution and its place in the federal system, ongoing public lands disputes, and major political institutions. Several original datasets covering the last thirty years in Utah politics provide contemporary context and analysis. The final chapter offers practical advice to citizens wishing to engage with their elected officials.Adam R. Brown has written a book that is beneficial not only for educational purposes but also for the average citizen who wishes to understand how Utah’s government operates, get involved in state politics, and make informed choices.

Combining new empirical information about political behavior with a close examination of the capacity of the state’s government, this third edition of West Virginia Politics and Government offers a comprehensive and pointed study of the ability of the state’s government to respond to the needs of a largely rural and relatively low-income population.

In the twenty-first century, as many candidates actively campaign against the very government they seek to serve in, and as many people appear to believe their government irreparably broken, T. M. Sell argues that in Washington State, the system works better than most realize. In Washington State Politics and Government Sell explains how the many parts of government function and introduces readers to a diverse array of individuals who work in government, including how they got there and what it is they’re trying to do. Sell covers the three branches of state government, plus county, city, special purpose district, and tribal governments. He explains the state budgets and taxes; the functions of major and better-known state agencies; how policy is made; the political landscape of Washington; and parties, voting, and elections.Sell discusses economic development, including the importance of high-tech industry, aviation, Amazon.com, and more traditional parts of the state economy, such as timber and agriculture. He also provides a contemporary look at Washington’s elected officials, constitution, judiciary, media, demographics, and political culture and landscape. With this volume, any Washington citizen, student of politics, or specialist in government can gain insight into the state’s current political system.

Arizona has become a swing state in recent national elections, the source of controversial policies and policy proposals, and the home of well-known political personalities. In this new edition of Arizona Politics and Government, David R. Berman examines contemporary issues in a broad historical, comparative, and theoretical context to identify the mixture of ideas, activities, and events that have helped shape the essential character of the Arizona polity.Beginning with an overview of continuities and changes in Arizona politics, Berman then discusses more specific topics such as immigration and water issues, cultural wars, political extremism, voting rights, and political reform, as well as intergovernmental relations, judicial elections, the place of rural Arizona and organized labor in state politics, and the state’s treatment of Natives, Mexican Americans, and African Americans. Above all Berman considers the values, beliefs, and behavioral patterns reflected in the state’s political life that have fueled Arizonans’ quests for autonomy, democracy, and development.