Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 One Problem Shared by 50 Governors
- 2 The Roots of Executive Power
- 3 What Do Governors Propose?
- 4 Gubernatorial Success
- 5 Do Governors Set the Size of Government?
- 6 The Power and Perils of Popularity
- 7 The Item Veto A Negative or a Positive Power?
- 8 Legislative Professionalism and Gubernatorial Power
- 9 Governors and the Comparative Study of Chief Executives
- References
- Index
6 - The Power and Perils of Popularity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 One Problem Shared by 50 Governors
- 2 The Roots of Executive Power
- 3 What Do Governors Propose?
- 4 Gubernatorial Success
- 5 Do Governors Set the Size of Government?
- 6 The Power and Perils of Popularity
- 7 The Item Veto A Negative or a Positive Power?
- 8 Legislative Professionalism and Gubernatorial Power
- 9 Governors and the Comparative Study of Chief Executives
- References
- Index
Summary
Gov. Kathleen Blanco, whose political standing nose-dived amid her administration's response to Hurricane Katrina, emerged Tuesday from a 17 -day special legislative session with a string of victories on the state budget, business tax breaks, a state wide building code, and a partial takeover of the troubled New Orleans public schools.
– The Times-Picayune, November 23, 2005Despite an all time-low approval rating and a major scandal exploding around him, Republican Gov. Bob Taft appears on the verge of scoring the biggest public policy victory of his nearly 6 and 1/2 years in office.
– Dayton Daily News, June 3, 2005When Louisiana's governor Kathleen Blanco and Ohio's governor Bob Taft won major legislative victories in the face of plummeting polls, it surprised the statehouse journalists who covered them. And, well, it should have. The link between popularity and legislative success is an important part of the lore of American politics, buttressed by systematic studies at the national level and frequent observations in states. Essential to the notion of political capital is the understanding that chief executives can spend it by translating strong public approval into policy persuasion. The converse should also be true: unpopular leaders should be hamstrung by their poll numbers, unable to convince legislators to past he agendas they propose.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Power of American GovernorsWinning on Budgets and Losing on Policy, pp. 157 - 187Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012