Although formal gubernatorial powers have often been employed as a surrogate measure of actual gubernatorial influence, the linkage is more complex than that. This article builds and tests the argument that formal gubernatorial powers are translated into influence largely through the mechanism of the governor's informal political resources. That is, formal powers do relatively little to bolster a governor's influence where informal resources are lacking, but a combination of formal powers and informal resources contributes greatly to gubernatorial influence. Tests of an interactive model of the governor's influence over state administrative agencies strongly support this interpretation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ABNEY, G.
and T. P. LAUTH (1983) “The governor as chief administrator.”Public Administration Rev.43: 40-49.
2.
BARBER, J. D.
(1977) The Presidential Character: Predicting Performance in the White House (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
3.
BERNICK, E. L.
(1979) “Gubernatorial tools: formal vs. informal.”J. of Politics41: 656-664.
4.
BERRY, W. D.
and S. FELDMAN (1985) Multiple Regression in Practice. Sage University Paper Series on Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences, Series 07-050.Beverly Hills, CA: Sage
5.
BEYLE, T. L.
(1978) “The governor and the public.”State Government51: 180-186.
6.
BEYLE, T. L.
(1983) “Governors,” in V. Grayet al. (eds.) Politics in the American States (4th ed.). Boston: Little, Brown
7.
BEYLE, T. L.
and R. E. O'CONNOR (1972) “The world of state government elites: governors and bureaucrats,” in T. L. Beyle and J. O. Williams (eds.) The American Governor in Behavioral Perspective.New York: Harper & Row
8.
CRITTENDEN, J.
(1967) “Dimensions of modernization in the American states.”Amer. Pol. Sci. Rev.61: 989-1001.
9.
DOMETRIUS, N. C.
(1979a) “The efficacy of a governor's formal powers.”State Government52: 121-125.
10.
DOMETRIUS, N. C.
(1979b) “Measuring gubernatorial power.”J. of Politics41: 589-610.
11.
DOWNS, G. W.
and D. M. ROCKE (1979) “Interpreting heteroskedasticity.”Amer. J. of Pol. Sci.23: 816-828.
12.
DYE, T. R.
(1969) “Executive power and public policy in the states.”Western Pol. Q.27: 926-939.
13.
EDWARDS, G. C., III
and S. J. WAYNE (1985) Presidential Leadership.New York: St. Martin's.
14.
FRIEDRICH, R. J.
(1982) “In defense of multiplicative terms in multiple regression equations.”Amer. J. of Pol. Sci.26: 797-833.
15.
GLEJSER, H.
(1969) “A new test for heteroskedasticity.”J. of the Amer. Statistical Association64: 316-332.
16.
GOLDFELD, S. M.
and R. E. QUANDT (1965) “Some tests for heteroskedasticity.”J. of the Amer. Stat. Assn.60: 539-547.
17.
HEBERT, F. T.
, J. L. BRUDNEY, and D. S. WRIGHT (1983) “Gubernatorial influence and state bureaucracy.”Amer. Politics Q.11: 243-264.
18.
MOREHOUSE, S. M.
(1966) “The governor and his legislative party.”Amer. Pol. Sci. Rev.60: 923-942.
19.
MUELLER, K.
(1985) “Explaining variation and change in gubernatorial powers, 1960-1982.”Western Pol. Q.: 424-431.
20.
SCHLESINGER, J. A.
(1965) “The politics of the executive,” in H. Jacob and K. N. Vines (eds.) Politics in the American States.Boston: Little, Brown
21.
SHARKANSKY, I.
(1968) “Agency requests, gubernatorial support, and budget success in state legislatures.”Amer. Pol. Sci. Rev.62: 1220-1231.
22.
WIGGINS, C. W.
(1979) “Executive vetoes and legislative overrides in the American states.”J. of Politics42: 1110-1117.
23.
WRIGHT, D. S.
(1967) “Executive leadership in state administration.”Midwest J. of Pol. Sci.11: 1-26.
