Controlling Administrative Agencies in a Changing Federal System: Avenues of Gubernatorial Influence

Abstract

Gubernatorial control over state agencies has become a topic of great concern as state governments have undergone reorganization and as financial and programmatic responsibilities have shifted from Washington to the states. Avenues and instruments of gubernatorial influence are identified from survey responses of state agency directors. The importance of each of these is then assessed using statistical analysis, with reported gubernatorial influence over the agency as the dependent variable. Analysis reveals that governors have access to important avenues of influence that will facilitate their control over state agencies.