A Legacy of Innovation: Governors and Public Policy

by Ethan G. Sribnick

Overview

From La Follette to Faubus, from Rockefeller to Reagan, U.S. governors have addressed some of the most contentious policy questions of the twentieth century. In doing so, they not only responded to dramatic changes in the political landscape, they shaped that landscape. The influence of governors has been felt both within the states and across the nation. It is telling that four of the last five U.S. Presidents were former state governors.

A Legacy of Innovation: Governors and Public Policy examines the changing role of the state governor during the "American Century." In this volume, top political scientists, historians, and journalists track the evolution of gubernatorial leadership as it has dealt with critical issues, including conservation, transportation, civil rights, education, globalization, and health care. As the most visible state officials, twentieth-century governors often found themselves at the center of America's conflicting political tendencies. A Legacy of Innovation describes how they negotiated the tensions between increasing democratization and the desire for expert control, the rise of interest groups and demise of political parties, the pull of regionalism against growing nationalism, and the rising demand for public services in a society that fears centralized government. In their responses to these conflicts, governors helped shape the institutions of modern American government.

As state governments face new policy challenges in the twenty-first century, A Legacy of Innovation will serve as a valuable source of information for political scientists and policy makers alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780812240955
Publisher:	University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Publication date:	07/16/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Ethan G. Sribnick is a National Governors Association Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library.

Table of Contents

Foreword   Raymond C. Scheppach   Eric J. Vettel     ix
Introduction: Directing Democracy   Brian Balogh     1
Creativity Within the Confines of Federalism     23
Resourceful Leaders: Governors and the Politics of the American Environment   Sarah Phillips     25
"To Lay and Collect": Governors, Fiscal Federalism, and the Political Economy of Twentieth-Century Tax Policy   Ajay K. Mehrotra   David Shreve     48
Governors and the Development of American Social Policy   Ron Haskins     76
Laboratories of Democracy: Public Policy in Action     105
Governors and Economic Development   Jon C. Teaford     107
Uneasy Executives: Governors and Civil Rights from the Bay State to the Old Dominion   Jason Sokol     124
Balancing Economic Development with Investor Protection   Brooke Masters     149
Collective Action: Governors and Federal Policy     167
Moving the Nation: Governors and the Development of American Transportation Policy   Robert Jay Dilger     169
Gubernatorial Leadership and American K-12 Education Reform   Maris A. Vinovskis     185
From Charity Care to Medicaid: Governors, States, and the Transformation of American Health Care   Colleen M. Grogan   Vernon K. Smith     204
Afterword: A Legacy of State-Building   Ethan G. Sribnick     231
Timeline of Governors and States in the Twentieth Century     233
Notes     257
Further Resources     299
List of Contributors     301
Index     305
Acknowledgments     313