Handbook of State Government Administration docx

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC POLICYA Comprehensive Publication Program Executive Editor JACKRABIN Professor of Public Administration and Public Policy School of Public AffairsThe Cap

Handbook of State Government

Administration

edited by John J Gargan

Kent State University Kent, Ohio

MARCEL DEKKER, INC NEW YORK • BASEL

Handbook of State Government Administration

ISBN: 0-8247-7660-7

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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC POLICY

A Comprehensive Publication Program

Executive Editor

JACKRABIN

Professor of Public Administration and Public Policy

School of Public AffairsThe Capital CollegeThe Pennsylvania State University—Harrisburg

Middletown, Pennsylvania

1 Public Administration as a Developing Discipline (in two parts), Robert T.

Golembiewski

2 Comparative National Policies on Health Care, Milton I Roemer, M.D.

3 Exclusionary Injustice: The Problem of Illegally Obtained Evidence, Steven

R Schlesinger

4 Personnel Management in Government: Politics and Process, Jay M.

Shafritz, Walter L Balk, Albert C Hyde, and David H Rosenbloom

5 Organization Development in Public Administration (in two parts), edited by

Robert T Golembiewski and William B Eddy

6 Public Administration: A Comparative Perspective, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded, Ferrel Heady

7 Approaches to Planned Change (in two parts), Robert T Golembiewski

8 Program Evaluation at HEW (in three parts), edited by James G Abert

9 The States and the Metropolis, Patricia S Florestano and Vincent L.

12 Handbook on Public Budgeting and Financial Management, edited by Jack

Rabin and Thomas D Lynch

13 Encyclopedia of Policy Studies, edited by Stuart S Nagel

14 Public Administration and Law: Bench v Bureau in the United States, David

H Rosenbloom

15 Handbook on Public Personnel Administration and Labor Relations, edited

by Jack Rabin, Thomas Vocino, W Bartley Hildreth, and Gerald J Miller

16 Public Budgeting and Finance: Behavioral, Theoretical, and Technical spectives, Third Edition, edited by Robert T Golembiewski and Jack Rabin

Per-17 Organizational Behavior and Public Management, Debra W Stewart and G.

David Garson

18 The Politics of Terrorism: Second Edition, Revised and Expanded, edited by

Michael Stohl

19 Handbook of Organization Management, edited by William B Eddy

20 Organization Theory and Management, edited by Thomas D Lynch

21 Labor Relations in the Public Sector, Richard C Kearney

22 Politics and Administration: Woodrow Wilson and American Public ministration, edited by Jack Rabin and James S Bowman

Ad-23 Making and Managing Policy: Formulation, Analysis, Evaluation, edited by G.

Ronald Gilbert

24 Public Administration: A Comparative Perspective, Third Edition, Revised,

Ferrel Heady

25 Decision Making in the Public Sector, edited by Lloyd G Nigro

26 Managing Administration, edited by Jack Rabin, Samuel Humes, and Brian

32 Public Administration in Developed Democracies: A Comparative Study,

edited by Donald C Rowat

33 The Politics of Terrorism: Third Edition, Revised and Expanded, edited by

Michael Stohl

34 Handbook on Human Services Administration, edited by Jack Rabin and

Marcia B Steinhauer

35 Handbook of Public Administration, edited by Jack Rabin, W Bartley

Hildreth, and Gerald J Miller

36 Ethics for Bureaucrats: An Essay on Law and Values, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded, John A Rohr

37 The Guide to the Foundations of Public Administration, Daniel W Martin

38 Handbook of Strategic Management, edited by Jack Rabin, Gerald J Miller,

and W Bartley Hildreth

39 Terrorism and Emergency Management: Policy and Administration, William

43 Government Financial Management Theory, Gerald J Miller

44 Personnel Management in Government: Politics and Process, Fourth Edition, Revised and Expanded, Jay M Shafritz, Norma M Riccucci, David H.

Rosenbloom, and Albert C Hyde

45 Public Productivity Handbook, edited by Marc Holzer

46 Handbook of Public Budgeting, edited by Jack Rabin

47 Labor Relations in the Public Sector: Second Edition, Revised and Ex panded, Richard C Kearney

48 Handbook of Organizational Consultation, edited by Robert T Golem biewski

49 Handbook of Court Administration and Management, edited by Steven W.

Hays and Cole Blease Graham, Jr

50 Handbook of Comparative Public Budgeting and Financial Management,

edited by Thomas D Lynch and Lawrence L Martin

51 Handbook of Organizational Behavior, edited by Robert T Golembiewski

52 Handbook of Administrative Ethics, edited by Terry L Cooper

53 Encyclopedia of Policy Studies: Second Edition, Revised and Expanded,

edited by Stuart S Nagel

54 Handbook of Regulation and Administrative Law, edited by David H.

Rosenbloom and Richard D Schwartz

55 Handbook of Bureaucracy, edited by Ali Farazmand

56 Handbook of Public Sector Labor Relations, edited by Jack Rabin, Thomas

Vocino, W Bartley Hildreth, and Gerald J Miller

57 Practical Public Management, Robert T Golembiewski

58 Handbook of Public Personnel Administration, edited by Jack Rabin, Thomas

Vocino, W Bartley Hildreth, and Gerald J Miller

59 Public Administration: A Comparative Perspective, Fifth Edition, Ferret

Heady

60 Handbook of Debt Management, edited by Gerald J Miller

61 Public Administration and Law: Second Edition, David H Rosenbloom and

Rosemary O'Leary

62 Handbook of Local Government Administration, edited by John J Gargan

63 Handbook of Administrative Communication, edited by James L Garnett and

Alexander Kouzmin

64 Public Budgeting and Finance: Fourth Edition, Revised and Expanded,

edited by Robert T Golembiewski and Jack Rabin

65 Handbook of Public Administration: Second Edition, edited by Jack Rabin,

W Bartley Hildreth, and Gerald J Miller

66 Handbook of Organization Theory and Management: The Philosophical Approach, edited by Thomas D Lynch and Todd J Dicker

67 Handbook of Public Finance, edited by Fred Thompson and Mark T Green

68 Organizational Behavior and Public Management: Third Edition, Revised and Expanded, Michael L Vasu, Debra W Stewart, and G David Garson

69 Handbook of Economic Development, edited by Kuotsai Tom Liou

70 Handbook of Health Administration and Policy, edited by Anne Osborne

Kil-patrick and James A Johnson

71 Handbook of Research Methods in Public Administration, edited by Gerald J.

Miller and Marcia L Whicker

72 Handbook on Taxation, edited by W Bartley Hildreth and James A

Richard-son

73 Handbook of Comparative Public Administration in the Asia-Pacific Basin,

edited by Hoi-kwok Wong and Hon S Chan

74 Handbook of Global Environmental Policy and Administration, edited by

Dennis L Soden and Brent S Steel

75 Handbook of State Government Administration, edited by John J Gargan

Additional Volumes in Preparation

Handbook of Public Information Systems, edited by G David Garson

Handbook of Global Legal Policy, edited by Stuart S Nagel

Handbook of Global Economic Policy, edited by Stuart S Nagel

Handbook of Organizational Consultation: Second Edition, Revised and Expanded, edited by Robert T Golembiewski

Handbook of Global International Policy, edited by Stuart S Nagel

Handbook of Global Technology Policy, edited by Stuart S Nagel

Handbook of Global Political Policy, edited by Stuart S Nagel

Handbook of Global Social Policy, edited by Stuart S Nagel and Amy Robb

Handbook of Strategic Management: Second Edition, Revised and

Expanded, edited by Jack Rabin, Gerald J Miller, and W Bartley Hildreth

ANNALS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

1 Public Administration: History and Theory in Contemporary Perspective,

edited by Joseph A Uveges, Jr.

2 Public Administration Education in Transition, edited by Thomas Vocino and

Richard Heimovics

3 Centenary Issues of the Pendleton Act of 1883, edited by David H

Ro-senbloom with the assistance of Mark A Emmert

4 Intergovernmental Relations in the 1980s, edited by Richard H Leach

5 Criminal Justice Administration: Linking Practice and Research, edited by

William A Jones, Jr.

The Handbook of State Government Administration considers the range of

admin-istrative and management practices employed by state governments in the UnitedStates These practices are discussed and analyzed from both conceptual andapplied perspectives Chapters have been written by individuals with outstandingacademic backgrounds and substantial experience dealing with administrativeand management issues in substantive policy areas

For students, scholars, and practitioners of politics and public tion, the topics covered in this handbook are important matters Media attention

administra-to comings and goings in Washingadministra-ton, D.C., notwithstanding, the federal ment is one of separate and independent governments sharing authority Withinthe federal arrangement, states continue to command, as always, vital legal, politi-cal, and policy powers As demonstrated repeatedly over the past half century,these powers have enabled elected officials to use their states as laboratories.State officials and professionals in government have engaged in policy experi-mentation, reconsidered functional assignment of program responsibilities be-tween state and local governments, and diffused successful policy innovations

arrange-to their counterparts in other states

In very elemental ways, the performance of state governments defines etal capacity to deal with future problems Growth in the importance of federallaw and federal court decisions and expanded federal government involvement

soci-in more domestic functions (or at least the fundsoci-ing of functions) is of obvioussignificance Yet it is state law, state court systems, and the provision of an array

of public services by state and local governments that in most cases determinethe contribution of the public sector to the quality of life that individuals andfamilies enjoy

How well state governments perform is determined by their governing

ca-vi Preface

pacity As a concept, governing capacity involves two dimensions—the ability

to do what is required and the ability to do what is expected High-capacity tems achieve optimal performance levels in meeting requirements and expecta-tions Capacity is relational and dynamic in that it can be assessed only withregard to the complexity of requirements and expectations confronting a system

sys-at a given time Strains on governing capacity result from increases in the number,differentiation, and interdependence of requirements and expectations Such hasbeen the case for state governments when, for example, they have confrontedthe results of global economic change, or when they have been expected to copewith problems with no known solutions, such as drug addiction, or when theyhave had to plan strategically for major reassignments of responsibilities in thefederal system

Public administration theoreticians and practitioners must address the lenge of specifying the kinds of administrative knowledge and management andtechnical skills necessary for the "to meet requirements" dimension of governingcapacity Although basic management functions continue to be relevant, defini-tions of state of the art and exemplary management practices have changed asproblem and functional contexts change As "POSDCORB" and public sectorgrowth guided public administration thinking of the 1930s, strategic manage-ment, postmodernism, and privatization shape public administration thinking atthe outset of a new century

chal-The Handbook of State Government Administration is designed to meet the

ongoing challenge of specifying the knowledge and skills necessary for buildingthe governing capacity of state (and other) governments It is also intended tomeet particular needs of the public administration community by, first and fore-most, serving as a basic text for graduate courses in public administration andmanagement generally, and courses in state government administration specifi-cally Participants in in-service training programs will find this handbook usefulfor a review of state administration and management developments and for cover-age of topics with which they lack recent experience Librarians should considerthe volume a potentially valuable addition to their reference collections

Editing the Handbook of State Government Administration was eased by

the professionalism of many individuals Chapter authors were uniformly ative and understanding of deadlines Jack Rabin, executive editor of MarcelDekker, Inc.'s Public Administration and Public Policy series, provided soundadvice throughout the project Production Editors Jeanne McFadden and PaigeForce were patient and especially helpful in bringing the project to completion

cooper-John J Gargan

Preface

Conributors

Factors Affecting the Context of State Government Administration

1 Introduction and Overview of State Government Administration 1

John J Gargan

2 Management Consequences of the 1960-1990 "Modernization"

of State Government 13

James K Conant

3 State Administration and Intergovernmental Interdependency:

Do National Impacts on State Agencies Contribute to

Organizational Turbulence? 33

Deil S Wright and Chung-Lae Cho

4 State Administration in Cultural Context 67

H Edward Flentje

Basic State Government Management Practices

5 Governors as Chief Administrators and Managers 107

F Ted Hebert

vii

Administering Policies of State Government

14 Administration of State Economic Development Policy 363

Keith Boeckelman

15 Administration of State Government Rural Development Policy 385

Robert Agranoff and Michael McGuire

16 Administration of State Economic Development: Decision

Making Under Uncertainty 421

Karen Mossberger

17 Administration of Developmental-Disabilities Services in

State Government 441

Paul J Castellani

Joseph Drew and Thomas E Yatsco

21 Management of State Corrections Policies: Consequences of

Getting Tough on Crime 561

Betsy Fulton

22 Administration of State Environmental Policies 591

A Hunter Bacot and Roy A Dawes

23 Organization and Management of Public Works in State

Robert Agranoff Professor, School of Public and Environmental Affairs,

Indi-ana University, Bloomington, IndiIndi-ana

Maria P Aristigueta Assistant Professor, School of Urban Affairs and Public

Policy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware

Robert W Backoff Professor, School of Public Policy and Management, The

Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

A Hunter Bacot Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science,

Univer-sity of North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina

Evan M Berman Associate Professor, Department of Public Administration,

University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida

Curtis R Berry Associate Professor, Department of Political Science,

Ship-pensburg University, ShipShip-pensburg, Pennsylvania

Keith Boeckelman Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science,

West-ern Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois

Paul J Castellani Ph.D Director, Program Research, New York State Office

of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, and Public Service sor, The University of New York at Albany, Albany, New York

Profes-xi

xii Contributors

Keon S Chi Professor of Political Science, Georgetown College, Georgetown,

Kentucky, and Senior Fellow, Council of State Governments, Lexington, tucky

Ken-Chung-Lae Cho Department of Political Science, University of North

Caro-lina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

James K Conant Chair, Department of Public and International Affairs,

George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia

Roy A Dawes Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science,

Gettys-burg College, GettysGettys-burg, Pennsylvania

Joseph Drew Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Kent State

University, Kent, Ohio

Claire L Felbinger Chair, Department of Public Administration, American

University, Washington, D.C

H Edward Flentje Professor, Hugo Wall School of Urban and Public Affairs,

Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas

Betsy Fulton Assistant Professor, Department of Correctional and Juvenile

Jus-tice Studies, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky

John J Gargan Professor, Department of Political Science, Kent State

Univer-sity, Kent, Ohio

Peter J Haas Professor, Department of Political Science, San Jose State

Uni-versity, San Jose, California

F Ted Hebert Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Utah,

Salt Lake City, Utah

Edward T Jennings, Jr Professor, Martin School of Public Policy and

Ad-ministration, Department of Political Science, University of Kentucky, ton, Kentucky

Lexing-Thomas P Lauth Professor, Department of Political Science, University of

Georgia, Athens, Georgia

Contributors xiii

Lawrence L Martin Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Columbia

University, New York, New York

Michael McGuire Assistant Professor, Department of Public Administration,

University of North Texas, Denton, Texas

Karen Mossberger Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Kent

State University, Kent, Ohio

Paul C Nutt Professor, Department of Management Sciences, Fisher College

of Business, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

Willard T Price Professor, Eberhardt School of Business, University of the

Pacific, Stockton, California

Julia E Robinson Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Public Affairs,

Uni-versity of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Paula E Steinbauer Political Science Department, University of Georgia,

Ath-ens, Georgia

Deil S Wright Alumni Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Public

Administration, Department of Political Science, University of North Carolina,Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Thomas E Yatsco Health Care Program Evaluator, Health, Education, and

Human Services Division, U.S General Accounting Office, Washington, D.C

Introduction and Overview of State

Government Administration

John J Gargan

Kent State University, Kent, Ohio

State governments fill dynamic roles in the governing of American society, roles

as autonomous political systems rather than administrative units of the nationalgovernment The performance of the states as political systems over the past fourdecades is evidence of the vitality of the Constitution's 10th Amendment Onthe cusp of the 21st century, as in the past, state governments function as labora-tories of democracy, centers of policy experimentation and innovation

Emphasizing the states' role does not diminish that of the national ment but it does address an attention imbalance Most observers of governmentand politics are aware of a flow of news about sensational national and globalevents, and their perspectives have been shaped and reinforced by the prolifera-tion of electronic and print media outlets The flow of news about state govern-ment and policies is significantly more limited

govern-The national government is, of course, a major stakeholder in domesticpolicy In the aggregate, better than 20% of total state revenues are from intergov-ernmental sources; for particular states and for specific programs that percentage

is considerably higher Beginning with the New Deal, accelerating during theGreat Society, and peaking in the late 1970s, federal government involvement

by way of financing and regulations has been a central feature of political opment in the United States And the involvement is unlikely to abate Scholarshave pointed out that to maximize efficiency and effectiveness there needs to

devel-be a sorting out of domestic functions, with some devel-best handled by the nationalgovernment and others handled at the state and local levels (Peterson, 1995; Riv-lin, 1992)

Allowing for the importance of national government involvement, it is still

1

2 Gargan

the case that the set of public services that affect citizens most directly and mostfundamentally is a set administered by state and local governments For example,for all the rhetoric in recent presidential and congressional campaigns about mak-ing education a priority item on the national agenda, education—primary, sec-ondary, and higher—continues overwhelmingly to be the responsibility of thestates and their local jurisdictions Similarly for other functions, state and localpublic employment, in terms of sheer numbers, surpasses federal non-defense-related federal employment by multiples of better than 4 to 1 For the publicfunctions relevant to the citizenry and the greater number of public employees

it is the law of state statutes, state constitutions, and state court decisions that iscontrolling under most circumstances

Fundamental to state government's ability to cope with existing and ing problems are well-developed administrative-management practices The

emerg-Handbook of State Government Administration is designed to provide academics,

students, and practitioners with overviews of these practices The overviews aregrouped in three sections addressing the contexts of state government administra-tion and management, essential and emergent management practices, and theadministration of specific programs and policies

I CONTEXTS OF STATE GOVERNMENT

ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

The chapters of the first section relate to contextual influences on state ment administration and management One of the most basic is the ideational—how state government should be organized to operate most effectively As dem-onstrated by James Conant (Chapter 2), there was derived from the broader field

govern-of public administration a set govern-of ideas about reforming state constitutions, tive authority, span of control, staff assistance, and the importance of structuralarrangements to effective governance

execu-Reform efforts were rewarded with successful modernization initiatives,especially during the period 1960 to 1990 The number and character of reformshave varied from state to state but their essential thrust has been to rearrangestructural arrangements to promote economy and efficiency Though moderniza-tion did not guarantee effectiveness, it did remove barriers—outmoded constitu-tional provisions, redundant boards and commissions, multiple elected executiveoffices—and undoubtedly contributed to the organizational capacity of manystate governments

Long recognized as elemental to state government administration are thelegal aspects of federalism and its policy-administrative applications in intergov-ernmental relations Relating to these matters, Deil Wright and Chung-Lae Cho(Chapter 3) address federalism, intergovernmental relations, and intergovernmen-

Introduction and Overview 3

tal management as organizing concepts For each, they assess the roles played

by popularly elected generalists, appointed administrative generalists, and policyprofessionals Their study traces data collected over nearly two decades on theeffects on state governance and state policy of national programs, aid, and regula-tory actions Wright and Cho conclude, albeit provisionally, that evidence is lim-ited for impacts of federal aid and federal regulations on state policy change;that state agencies are in fact more the units of relatively autonomous state gov-ernments and forces than simply administrators of federal programs; and futureresearchers may need to study the possibility that, contrary to the first two conclu-sions, the reason for the lack of evidence in the longitudinal surveys of federalimpacts on the states is that there has been a cumulative effect of aid requirementsand regulations which has made state agencies more alike and eliminated inter-state variations

A third contextual factor is political culture, dominant patterns of attitudesand values held by the public and political elite about government and politics(Elazar, 1994; Erickson et al 1993) H Edward Flentje (Chapter 4) treats culture

as a variable determining the acceptability of approaches to administration andmanagement Drawing on the work of Aaron Widavsky and his associates, Flentjediscusses the relation of cultural types—hierarchy, individualism, and egalitari-anism—to the elements of organizations, including their core values, authoritystructures, and leadership approaches

With this foundation and an array of examples, Flentje demonstrates theutility of the cultural approach for understanding state government administra-tion Posited are three ideal types—State Administration as Hierarchy, State Ad-ministration as Individualism, and State Administration as Egalitarianism—each

of which emphasizes different combinations of core values, authority structures,decision-making approaches, leadership styles, and other variables Within a stategovernment or state agency, different administrators may hold to one or another

of the cultural types Flentje concludes that, by drawing upon the strengths ofeach type, alliances of cultures might redirect and energize state governmentadministration

II ESSENTIAL AND EMERGENT MANAGEMENT

PRACTICES

Chapters in this second section highlight aspects of administrative and ment practices in state government Coverage begins with consideration of thestructure of the governorship, proceeds to established management practices, andfinishes with an introduction to new management techniques

manage-Any treatment of state government administration must begin with an knowledgment that in virtually all states the governor is the focal point for admin-

ac-4 Gargan

istrative leadership and support for career managers A recurring theme in thisvolume is the importance of executive leadership by governors and their officesand staffs

In his examination of the maturation of governors as administrators, F TedHebert (Chapter 5) indicates the importance governors themselves attribute tomanagement skills To a considerable degree, this is due to the redefinition inrecent decades of the governor's role from that of custodian to policy manager

in a complex intergovernmental system A successful administration is gent upon the governor's ability to appoint skilled (and loyal) managers to leadstate agencies Hebert assesses changes in the span of gubernatorial responsi-bilities and formal powers available to governors to influence administrativeagencies Clearly a primary theme of reform has been the concentration of formalbudgetry, appointment, and staff power in the governor's office and reduction inthe number of state officials with whom the governor must share executive au-thority The record of any governor, notes Hebert, will be determined by theinterplay of formal and informal influences; those with strong personalities, goodcommunication skills, and formal powers are likely to be more effective thanthose without

contin-An important counter to the familiar argument for fortifying the governor'soffice and reducing fragmentation of the executive branch is offered by JuliaRobinson (Chapter 6) She makes the case for independent political executives,those elected to office or appointed to boards and authorities independent of thegovernor According to Robinson, independent executives at the state level, un-like those in the national government, tend to have relatively long tenures duringwhich they develop networks based in personal, political, and policy contacts.Since they build upon interpersonal trust and shared policy experiences, the net-works facilitate problem solving, particularly for problems requiring cooperation

of multiple agencies

Regardless of the precise administrative structure or the extent of the nor's formal powers, there are basic management tasks which must be dealt withsimply to maintain and continue the operations of large scale organizations likestate governments Among the most essential of these tasks are those associatedwith budgeting and financial management and personnel-human resources man-agement

gover-Thomas P Lauth and Paula E Steinbauer (Chapter 7) assess the ship between budgeting and management in state government They characterizethe state budget as an instrument of accountability—governmental accountability

relation-to the public, executive branch accountability relation-to the legislature, and executiveagency accountability to the governor In addition to being an instrument foraccountability and financial control, Lauth and Steinbauer assert, state budgetsalso are instruments of management—for achieving efficiency and productivityimprovements and for determining the degree to which program goals have been

Introduction and Overview 5

accomplished They note that during the past quarter-century state governmentshave incorporated program and performance information into their budget sys-tems with the aim of better informing state government resource allocation deci-sions Based upon recent information obtained from state budget offices, Lauthand Steinbauer identify the kinds of control and management activities currentlyused by state budget offices and report on state budget office perceptions of theeffectiveness of those activities

For the second essential task cited, Curtis Berry (Chapter 8) provides acomprehensive overview of personnel-human resources management in stategovernment Writing from the perspective of the personnel administrator, Berrypoints up the array of issues with which state personnel offices must deal Someare of long standing—advantages and disadvantages of alternative personnelstructures and procedures; such matters of concern to employees as recruitmentand testing, promotion, and compensation Others issues, according to Berry,have become increasingly complex and paradoxical in that they lead personneladministrators to choices between competing values Among these are the promo-tion of merit-based systems while at the same time assuring elected officials ofpersonnel who are repsonsive to their policy agendas; handling professionally,yet realistically, the patronage requests of powerful office holders; recognizingpublic employee unions and implementing affirmative action policies while bal-ancing the rights of senior employees with those of junior employees from tradi-tionally excluded groups Neither the longstanding nor the paradoxical issues can

be handled by formula or mechanistic regulations Indeed, it is in the day-to-dayoperations of human resources agencies that strategic and tactical decisions aremade affecting the practical talents brought to jobs and determining which com-peting values in public administration are to prevail (Kaufman, 1956)—neutralcompetence, representation, executive leadership

Strategic management is a more recent addition to the array of critical agement tasks In their chapter, Paul Nutt and Robert Backoff (Chapter 9) areconcerned with constraints, such as informal "rules of the game" (media, fiscal,bureaucratic), operating to inhibit initiatives for revitalizing and strategicallychanging public organizations Overcoming the constraints is an elementary chal-lenge to those leaders who will be increasingly evaluated on the ability to manageradical change

man-Strategic planning experiences with a number of state agencies supply Nuttand Backoff with case examples of the logic of the process of strategic change,what they refer to as "managing the dance of the what and how." They furthershow how technical developments in group process techniques and decision aidsare applicable to public sector contexts The techniques and aids alleviate theinherent complications of working in groups and help to move agency stakehold-ers toward support for strategic change and win-win problem solutions

Financial, personnel, and strategic management are among the critical tasks

6 Gargan

which most observers would agree strengthen the ' 'technical core of analytic andmanagement skill" (Lynn, 1987, p 183) Capable handling of these tasks is aprerequisite for competent modern governance Additionally, new practices havebeen promulgated which likely enhance the art of public management To a de-gree, the innovations have been replies to growing demands for greater effective-ness, responsiveness, and accountability at all levels of government The innova-tions have also emphasized the achievement of demonstrable results, an emphasisbased on the belief that good management is a means of efficiently allocatingscarce resources for increased demands

Chapters in the second section feature the innovations Dealing with themost basic, Keon Chi (Chapter 10) covers the management of innovations instate government, distinguishing between political-policy, large-scale "macro,"innovations and program management, and smaller-scale "micro" innovations

or tools to implement political or policy goals Chi points out that successfulinnovations typically are supported by innovation "champions" and frequentlyresult from a "groping along" by individuals or small groups using trial-and-error approaches to new techniques for policies or programs needing help.Productivity management, ' 'the effective and efficient use of resources toachieve outcomes," is covered by Evan Berman (Chapter 11) For much of thepast century, improving productivity has been a concern of theorists and prac-titioners of public and private administration As discussed by Berman, currentattention to productivity follows on the concerns of the 1980s and 1990s for totalquality management to assuage citizen frustration over poor services and unduered tape Administrators working to make state agencies more effective have usedsuch approaches as public-private partnerships, reengineering of organizations,stakeholder empowerment, and information technologies

The new management emphases on productivity, client satisfaction, andinformation are heavily dependent on research, data, and performance indicators.With competing demands and scarce resources, gaining organizational compe-tence to deal with such matters is a challenge In successive chapters, Peter Haas(Chapter 12) and Maria Aristigueta (Chapter 13) discuss progress in state govern-ment

Peter Haas is concerned with the use of research, particularly policy sis (more prospective) and program evaluation (more retrospective), to meet theinformation needs of policy and administrative decision makers in state govern-ment Haas finds that state policy research takes diverse forms, from informal' 'back of envelope'' analysis in smaller agencies to sophisticated performanceaudits in more institutionalized settings Though less institutionalized than at thenational level, state policy research is conducted within state government units(gubernatorial staff, legislative committees, legislative research sections) andnongovernmental agencies (consulting firms, universities, think tanks, interestgroups)

analy-Introduction and Overview 7

Supportive of efforts to increase productivity and improve administrativeperformance are quantitative and qualitative indicators of results Maria Aristi-gueta gives an overview of developments in benchmarking, measurement perfor-mance, and "outcome monitoring" in state government As she points out, work

is under way to establish measures for program productivity, quality, tiveness, and timeliness Information gained contributes to management for re-sults systems and such system modules as strategic planning and performance-based budgeting In turn, the indicators, systems, and modules help to improveorganizational performance, accountability to stakeholders, employee motivation,and communications

cost-effec-III ADMINISTRATION OF SPECIFIC PROGRAMS

AND POLICIES

An axiom of public administration holds that administrative theories are tested

in the implementation of public policies and programs by some executive agency

It is further held that the multiple dimensions of public problems dictate thatthe legislation be formulated in general terms and that administrators use theirmanagement expertise to fit programs to particular implementation settings.Chapters in the third section illustrate the point Administrative develop-ments and management practices are appraised for a number of policies Taken

in their entirety, the chapters show the importance of effective management tosuccessful policy implementation

Where possible, chapters have been grouped according to common tive topics and/or recent political experiences Because economic growth is ofsuch fundamental importance to so many aspects of public and private life, thesection opens with three chapters dealing with state economic development pol-icy The evolution of that policy is traced by Keith Boeckelman (Chapter 14).Boeckelman identifies three periods or "waves" of economic development poli-cies In the first period, from the 1920s until the 1980s, states attempted to attractnew industries by way of tax concessions and other incentives to reduce the cost

substan-of doing business The second period emerged in the 1980s and emphasized cies to improve productivity and to support within state entrepreneurs The thirdperiod, from the early 1990s to the present, stresses state actions to build supportfor development—infrastructure, education, and job training—and looks to theoperations of the market to determine which businesses will succeed Develop-ment policy in most states is a mix of elements from each of the waves Boeckel-man reviews evaluations of policy effects and concludes that combinations oftax policy, infrastructure investment, and carefully targeted programs can be used

poli-in a supportive political context to affect corporate location decisions

Given the competition for growth industries and firms, economic

develop-8 Gargan

ment policy is difficult under the best of circumstances Under conditions lesssupportive of growth, as in rural areas, challenges to public managers are espe-cially great Robert Agranoff and Michael McGuire (Chapter 15) detail the dis-tinct characteristics of rural development policy—a geographic rather than socio-economic base, varied administrative locations in state or quasi-governmentalagencies, an information-technical assistance focus, and multiorganizational net-works for policy formation, implementation, and administration To a consider-able degree, demonstrate Agranoff and McGuire, the success of rural develop-ment policy is dependent on administrative capacity to marshall resources, toassist rural communities themselves build capacity, and to sustain networks ofpublic and private organizations

Regardless of actual circumstances, economic development policy by itsvery nature is fraught with uncertainty Karen Mossberger (Chapter 16) exploreseconomic development decision making in five states With little direct policyexperience and a lack of firm knowledge as to factors influencing the locationaldecisions of firms, administrators had considerable uncertainty in the formation

of enterprise zones and in balancing the attraction of businesses into the zoneswith the protection of public funds Faced with difficult choices, administratorsrelied on simplifying strategies for reducing or coping with uncertainty Analo-gies were drawn from experience in other policy domains Symbolism was used

to indicate a concern for depressed areas An emphasis was placed on alism and process For example, state economic development departments estab-lished advisory committees and held public hearings Uncertainty was also re-duced through the use of multiple information sources—intergovernmentalnetworks, networks of practitioners, and professional associations—for the diffu-sion of ideas and published information about program experiences Mossbergersuggests that the enterprise zone research may have a broader relevance to otherprograms where state administrators have limited control over policy stakeholders

procedur-or broader policy influences

Among the most fundamental challenges for state administrators are thoseresulting from court decisions and/or fundamental policy shifts in intergovern-mental programs A sampling of results is reported in three chapters reviewingrecent changes in social policy In reviewing developments in developmentaldisabilities policy, Paul Castellani (Chapter 17) illustrates the variety of statepolicy approaches resulting from legislative, judicial, and administrative actions.These actions have altered the overall framework of disabilities policy and thenumber and characteristics of a clientele that often has a life long relation withthe services in that framework Mental retardation and developmental disabilitiesprograms in many states have been transformed from large institutional settings

to community-based public and private facilities Accompanying the tions have been varying patterns of state-local fiscal responsibilities, new types

transforma-of services, and innovative modes transforma-of service delivery, in some cases involving

Introduction and Overview 9

sophisticated contractual arrangements Castellani advises of the importance ofexperienced middle managers and state management capacity to the successfulhandling of developmental services Where the experience and capacity are ab-sent or deficient, centrifugal policy forces may lead to the disintegration of thedevelopmental disabilities framework for administering services

Even when affected by the same court decisions and intergovernmentalpolicy shifts, states vary in their responses Contributing to the variation, andcomplicating generalizations about state government, are differences in institu-tional arrangements established for state human service agencies As described

by Lawrence Martin (Chapter 18), arrangements differ on mundane matters ofagency name, and also on more substantial matters including the number of func-tions dealt with and the division of responsibility for human service programsbetween state and local governments

Intergovernmental policy reforms induce state government administrativeand management consequences This has been conspicuous in the case of welfarepolicy in general, as reviewed by Edward Jennings (Chapter 19), and in detailfor the ET Choices program in Massachusetts during the 1980s and changes inthe State of Washington following adoption of the federal Personal ResponsibilityAct of 1996 The 1996 act involved the devolution of greater program control

to the state government level and the redefinition of welfare policy from ment to a block grant and job-related Jennings concludes that management chal-lenges derive from changing policy goals and policy designs; the greater thechanges proposed, the greater the management challenges Among the challenges

entitle-he cites are tentitle-he design and management of advanced information systems, tion of details on client characteristics and benefit eligibility, and appraisal ofperformance data As reforms become more intricate there is a heightened needfor coordination of networks of relatively autonomous public, private, and non-profit service providers

collec-Of domestic policies of the past half-century few have occupied the tion of state policy makers and attentive publics as Medicaid, the federal entitle-ment program adopted to provide health care to the poor As analyzed by JosephDrew and Thomas Yatsco (Chapter 20), the rate of growth in Medicaid spendinghas crowded out spending increases for other functions Medicaid issues mirrorhealth care policy concerns in the United States—how to increase access to healthcare while maintaining costs and not reducing service quality In the chapterDrew and Yatsco address major reforms adopted by the states in the 1990s, in-cluding shifts in the mix of covered populations, reorganization of providers intomanaged care, reductions in payments to providers, and increased state regulation

atten-of services provided

State level administrators may enjoy discretion in the implementation ofprograms and policies That discretion is bounded, however, by assumptions ad-vancing policy and program choices Betsy Fulton (Chapter 21) explains how

10 Gargan

the "get-tough-on-crime" assumptions guiding corrections policy in the UnitedStates have had profound implications for state government managers Operation-alized in "three-strikes laws" (conviction of three felonies automatically re-sulting in life imprisonment), mandatory sentences, reinstatement of the deathpenalty, and community-based punishment, get-tough assumptions have pro-duced an incarceration rate five times that of other industrialized nations and statespending on corrections for adults and juveniles increasing at dramatic rates

If punishment satisfies cultural and political preferences, research reviews

of get-tough assumptions are mixed Some researchers credit the policies fordeclining crime rates Other researchers conclude that more cost-effective strate-gies for reducing crime could be based in early intervention programs and rehabil-itation programs for adults Fulton notes that among promising management prac-tices for longer-term solutions are more rigorous case classification to determinethe probability of recidivism, better measures of organizational performance, andtests of the effectiveness of privatization of entire corrections facilities or specificelements of the corrections function

The importance of constructive intergovernmental cooperation is illustrated

by Roy Dawes and A Hunter Bacot in their appraisal (Chapter 22) of mental program management For environmental policy, and for other policydomains, the achievement of national goals has been contingent upon successfulimplementation of federal programs by state governments and other service pro-viders Management of program implementation has been complicated by theinteraction of several factors: differing standards for air, water, and waste pollut-ants; changing knowledge bases regarding contaminants and technologies for pol-lution abatement; regional variations in the severity and character of pollutionproblems; and differences in the ideological and partisan support for managementoptions such as standard regulations and market-based incentives

environ-Dawes and Bacot conclude that the devolution movement is congruent withstate government preferences for decentralized federal rather than centralized na-tional methods Management of successful implementation requires a cooperativework relationship between national and state officials, agreement on primary rolesand responsibilities, and sustained commitment to program objectives

Essential to economic growth strategies, and more fundamentally to thequality of life enjoyed by the citizenry, is the adequacy of a jurisdiction's physicalinfrastructure Involved are the basic facilities of modern life—water resourcessystems, waste management plants, highways, bridges, flood control, publicpower networks, etc.—and the public works agencies responsible for their admin-istration As covered by Claire Felbinger and Willard Price (Chapter 23), infra-structure policy, funding, construction, and management have involved all levels

of government and the private sector Administration and oversight are vested

in structural arrangements from the multistate authority, to the within state county district, to the single-purpose special district Drawing on the intricate

multi-Introduction and Overview 11

California experience, Felbmger and Price discuss the likely benefits of the gration of public works administration at all levels of government They suggestthat more integrated programs would result from making the consideration ofinfrastructure and natural resources policy proposals the responsibility of a verylimited number of legislative committees, by creating single funding pools based

inte-on specified and earmarked revenue sources, and placing a resource administrator

as agency head or as a member of the governor's staff to coordinate infrastructurepolicy and related decision making

In the final chapter consideration is given to the administrative and management practices related to the governing capacity of state governments Governingcapacity is defined as the ability of state governments to meet the requirements

of effective functioning in a federal system and to satisfy expectations of keystakeholders both within and outside the state High capacity systems achieveoptimal performance levels in meeting requirements and expectations, low capacity systems fail to achieve minimal requirements and expectations Use of theadministrative and management practices discussed in this volume is a necessarybut not sufficient condition for high governing capacity Satisfying stakeholderexpectations in an era of public cynicism and distrust of government compoundthe difficulty of achieving high governing capacity status Confronting elected,appointed, and career state managers are administrative and management chal-lenges of a high order Those officials who best meet the challenges will furnisheffective, efficient, and beneficial government to their fellow state citizens

REFERENCES

Elazar, D J (1984) American Federalism A View from the States, 3rd ed , Harper &

Row, New York

Enkson, R S , Wright, G C , and Mclver, J P (1993) Statehouse Democracy Public

Opinion and Public Policy in the American States, Cambridge University Press,

Cambridge

Kaufman, H (1956) Emerging conflicts in the doctrines of public administration, Ameri

can Political Science Review, 50 1057-1073

Lynn, L E Jr (1987) Public management What do we know*? What should we know*?And how will we know it* 7 / Police Anahsis and Management, 7 178-187 Peterson, P E (1995) The Price of Federalism, Brookings Institution, Washington Rivlm, A (1992) Reviving the American Dream The Economy the States and the Fed

eral Government, Brookings Institution, Washington

Management Consequences of the

1960-1990 "Modernization" of

State Government

James K Conant

George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia

"[T]he democratic state has yet to be equipped for carrying out those mous burdens of administration which the needs of this industrial and tradingage are so fast accumulating ''

enor-—Woodrow Wilson, "The Study of Administration," 1887' 'What we need is not a new principle, but a modernizing of our managerialequipment''

—President's Committee on Administrative Management, 1937During the 1960s and early 1970s, it was not uncommon for scholars and journal-ists to refer to the states as the "fallen arches" in the federal system Today, itseems as though the states are everywhere being celebrated as ' 'laboratories ofdemocracy " While the former generalization probably exaggerated the weak-nesses of the states, the latter generalization may be an overly optimistic ap-praisal Yet, there is very little question that state governments today are larger,stronger, and more visible entities in the American federal system than they were

30 or 35 years ago (Conant, 1989) What accounts for this dramatic change inobservers' perceptions of the states? The most important factor may be the re-markable modernization of state legislative, executive, and judicial branches thatoccurred between 1960 and 1990 While the pace of modernization and the degree

of change achieved varied considerably from state to state, no state was left untouched by the powerful forces that propelled the drive to modernize

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the modernization of one of thethree branches of state government the executive branch Specifically, we will

13

14 Conant

look at some of the factors that contributed to the modernization initiatives inthe states between 1960 and 1990, the principal means by which modernizationwas pursued, and some of the management consequences of the modernizationinitiatives Perhaps the most important consequence was the expansion of thechief executives' authority and capacity to manage the executive branch Compre-hensive reform initiatives aimed at streamlining the structure of the executivebranch and expanding gubernatorial power were the principal means throughwhich this result was achieved The single most important causal factor in theresults achieved may have been the set of ideas reformers in the states had abouthow to modernize state government These reform ideas emerged from the field

of public administration, and they were developed over a period of more than

50 years Ironically, at the very time this intellectual heritage might be celebratedfor the remarkable contribution it made to the modernization of the states, it

is being challenged from a variety of directions and by a variety of sources.Consequently, whether the "classical" conception of modernization will con-tinue to serve as the intellectual foundation for executive branch reform in the21st century now seems to be an open question

I MODERNIZATION AND A SCIENCE

OF ADMINISTRATION

Since the word modernization is used frequently in this chapter, it seems priate to begin with a definition of this key term In Webster's dictionary, theword "modernize" means "to adopt modern ways." The word "modern," ac-cording to Webster's, has two principal meanings: (1) "of, relating to, or charac-teristic of a period extending from a relevant, remote past," and (2) "involvingrecent techniques, methods or ideas." Both of these definitions are important forthe discussion in this chapter The drive to modernize the executive branch ofstate government between 1960 and 1989 was an attempt to employ "recenttechniques, methods or ideas." The drive to modernize was also an attempt tobring to fruition a particular conception or model of government The intellectualroots of this model can be traced back to 1887, when Woodrow Wilson's article

appro-"The Study of Administration" was published in Political Science Quarterly.

At the time Wilson's article was published, more than 80% of the U.S.population was employed in agriculture Yet, Wilson recognized that the changefrom an agrarian society to an industrial and commercial society was well underway Furthermore, he realized that an industrial society would be much morecomplex than an agrarian society, which, in turn, would require a much greaterdegree of governmental activity than had previously been the case More activegovernmental engagement in societal affairs would not only require more legisla-tive activity, Wilson believed, but also greater administrative capacity

compo-to this task

During the 50 years that followed Wilson's challenge, concerted effortswere made to extend the reach of civil service within national, state, and localgovernments Additionally, a concerted effort was made by management prac-titioners and scholars to define a science of administration These intellectual

efforts culminated in an edited volume published in 1937, Papers on a Science

of Administration The book featured the most up to date thinking of people who

were writing about administration in both the public and private sectors In theirchapter, the editors of the volume, Luther Guhck and Lyndal Urwick, articulatedwhat they understood to be the key principles of the ' 'science of administration ''The four principles were supposed to apply to both public and private sectors(1) unity of command, (2) a limited span of control (for supervisors), (3) specialization of labor, and (4) organization (work division and coordination) on thebasis of purpose, process, place, or people

II MODERNIZATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE

MANAGEMENT

In 1937, President Franklin D Roosevelt's Committee on Administrative agement (Brownlow committee) attempted to apply the principles of the ' 'science

Man-of administration'' to the national government Indeed, the committee noted early

in its report that the principles of the science of administration were well knownThe problem, the committee maintained, was that the principles were not beingfollowed In fact, the committee compared the executive branch to an old farm,

Woodrow Wilson p 201

16 Conant

where the "barns, shacks, silos, tool sheds and garages" had "grown up withoutplan or design ''2 Whenever Congress created a new program, the committeecomplained, legislators frequently created a new agency to administer that pro-gram The result, the committee argued, was a haphazard structure and a span

of control far greater than any President could successfully handle

The committee recommended that the 100 executive branch agencies anddepartments be consolidated by function into 12 large departments, with the head

of each department appointed by the President Additionally, the committee ommended that the President's personal staff be increased, the managerial agen-cies be expanded, and the financial and accounting processes of government bebrought up-to-date Last, but not least, the committee recommended that civilservice be expanded throughout government The purpose of the changes, thecommittee argued, was to ' 'make democracy work'' by making the national gov-ernment an "up-to-date, efficient, and effective instrument for carrying out thewill of the nation "3

rec-In putting forward its recommendations, the committee was not onlyapplying the "science of administration" but also presenting a normative argu-ment about what the framers of the Constitution intended At the time the commit-tee was writing, the legislative branch (Congress) was the dominant institution

in both policy making and administration However, the committee had seriousreservations about the ability of legislatively controlled governments to get thingsdone In order to have effective and efficient implementation of the laws that theAmerican people want, the committee argued, the chief executive had to be "thecenter of energy, direction, and administrative management "4 Administrativemanagement, the committee said, "concerns itself in a democracy with the execu-tive and his duties, with managerial and staff aids, with organization, with person-nel and with the fiscal systems because these are the indispensable means ofmaking good the popular will in a people's government "5

In this respect, the President's committee not only employed the principles

of administration developed during the 50 years after Woodrow Wilson's articleappeared but also made a critical contribution to the development of the science

In his 1887 article, Wilson noted that the science of administration would have

to deal with an important constitutional issue the distribution of authority withingovernment Yet most scholars and practitioners who had attempted to articulatethe elements of a science of administration between 1887 and 1937 shied awayfrom this potentially explosive issue In contrast, the President's committee madethe constitutional issue its pnncipal focus

President's Committee on Administrative Management p 29

' / f t i d p 3

4 Ibid , p 2

1bid p 3

Consequences of' Modernization ' 17

III ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT IN THE STATES

The desire to improve administrative effectiveness and efficiency by making thechief executive the center of energy, direction, and administrative managementwas the central thrust of the major reform efforts in the states during the 1940sand '50s, as well as the '60s, '70s, and '80s At the state level, however, advocates

of modernizing the administrative machinery of government and expanding executive control over that machinery faced a major hurdle that President Rooseveltand the Brownlow committee did not have to confront At the national level,the limitations on the chief executive's formal power were primarily establishedthrough statutory provisions and custom At the state level, the limitations on thechief executive's power were established by explicit constitutional provisions,

as well as statutory provisions and custom

The constitutional limits on the formal powers of states' chief executiveswere the result of the colonial heritage, the Progressive movement, and legislativeaction The constitutional tramers in the original 13 states, as well as many whojoined the Union in later years, were suspicious of executive power Their expenence with the British monarchy was the pnncipal reason for this suspicion Theresult was that early state executives were provided very few powers (Beyle,1983) For example, gubernatorial terms were often limited to one or two years,and in some states, governors were limited to a single term

In addition to these early constitutional limitations, the 19th century reformmovement brought with it an increase in the number of separately elected executive branch officials such as the attorney general, secretary of state, state treasurer,and superintendent of education Furthermore, as state legislatures responded toconstituent demands and public problems, they created a host of new programs—and with them a host of new agencies and departments

In many states, the number of executive branch agencies grew to 100 or

200 before a reorganization occurred State legislatures generally establishedboards and commissions as the governing bodies to oversee the programs andagencies they created In addition, state legislatures generally reserved for themselves the power to appoint board and commission members In short, the premodernization position of most governors was that they had very little power toinfluence the executive branch agencies 6 Nevertheless, governors were generallyassumed by state voters to be responsible and accountable tor the activities andperformance of these agencies

Given this situation, the "cabinet" model of government became the re

1 In addition to the formal limitations described here most of the states chief executives had little power in the budgetary process Consequently budget reform proposals aimed at giving the chief executive a key role in the process were sometimes a part of the reorganization proposal

2 Departmentalization or functional integration of independent agencies

3 Elimination of boards or commissions for purely administrative work

4 Coordination of staff services

5 Independent audits

6 Recognition of the governor's cabinet

Not all state reformers used the reform ideal (cabinet model) for framingtheir reorganization plan, however Some used the ' 'traditional'' model, and someused the "secretary/coordinator" model Indeed, in historical terms, the traditional model has been used more frequently than the cabinet model, thesecretrary/coordmator model has been used relatively infrequently (Garnett,

1980, Conant, 1986b)

As the information in Table 1 shows, the traditional model called tor lessdramatic structural and legal modifications than those prescribed in the cabinetmodel In the traditional model, some functional consolidation (reduction m thenumber of agencies) and some expansion of gubernatorial appointment power areconsidered desirable However, elimination of all elected constitutional officers,boards, and commissions is not considered to be necessary—or even desirableThere are two principal reasons why the traditional model has been employed more frequently than the cabinet model as the structural objective of stateexecutive branch reorganization initiatives The first is tactical The reorgamzation initiators hoped or assumed that state legislators would find a change from

a pretraditional (or prereorgamzed) stage to the traditional model more palatablethan a more comprehensive change (Ellmg, 1983, Conant, 1986b) The second

Table 1 Models and the Reform Ideal

Department executive's control

over consolidated department

CabinetLowHigh High High High

Secretary coordinator Very low Low/moderate Moderate High Low

Traditional Moderate

LowLow/moderate Low

Consequences of "Modernization" 19

reason is that some—perhaps even many—of the reorganization commissionmembers themselves were not prepared to endorse the substantial expansion ofexecutive power called for in the reform ideal (cabinet model) In short, the degree of change called for in the reorganization seems to have been a key stickingpoint

There may be a historical lesson here that is worth highlighting Thereseems to be a logical progression or sequence with respect to executive branchreorganization in the states from the pretraditional to traditional model, and thenfrom traditional model to the cabinet or secretary/coordinator model This progression was clearly visible in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s While a few statesmoved from a pretraditional structure (and constitution) to a cabinet structure orsecretary/coordinator structure, most moved from a pretraditional to traditional

or from traditional to the cabinet or secretary/coordinator form

IV STATE EXECUTIVE BRANCH REORGANIZATION:

1965-1979

A wave of comprehensive reorganization initiatives in the states followed thepublication of the Brownlow report Another wave of reorganization initiativesfollowed the publication of the report by the successor at the national level

to the Brownlow commission, the Hoover commission (Garnett, 1980) Duringthese two waves, reorganization initiatives were likely to be ignored by statelegislatures or defeated by voters at the polls (Bosworth, 1954, Garnett, 1980)

In contrast, the 15 year penod between 1965 and 1979 could be called thegolden era of state reorganization (Conant, 1987) During those years, theexecutive branch was reorganized in 21 states In chronological order, thestates were Michigan, Wisconsin, California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts,Delaware, Maryland, Montana, Maine, North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia,Georgia, South Dakota, Kentucky, Missouri, Idaho, Louisiana, New Mexico,and Connecticut

In most of these 21 comprehensive reorganization initiatives, the passage

of the reorganization bill and approval of the constitutional changes required toimplement the reform could be described as a "bittersweet victory" for reformadvocates Many of these reformers had expenenced "decades of frustration"during which reorganization proposals were launched with some fanfare, andthen defeated or ignored by the legislature 7 Indeed, the average germination or

7 This phrase which seemed so appropriate to the subject matter was actually the title of a Wisconsin publication The publication was cited by Governor Warren Knowles in his Special Message to the Legislature on Reorganization (Apnl 5 1967)

to expand the chief executive's formal power included an expanded (four-year)term, a larger staff, new staff agencies, and the authority to develop executivebudget recommendations

The ability to appoint (and dismiss) the heads ot the executive branch cies has often been considered the most important of the expanded executivepowers, but the extent to which this power was pursued in the 21 states variedThis fact is demonstrated by the structural objectives articulated by the reformers

agen-in each state The reform ideal or cabagen-inet model was the objective agen-in seven ofthe 21 states, while the traditional model was the objective in eight The secretary/coordinator was the model in four states, in two states the objective was a hybrid

of other models

One of the most interesting findings from the 21 states relates to the level

ot executive/legislative conflict over the reorganization proposal In 16 of the 21states, conflict was either low or moderate This may seem to run contrary toexpectations, since legislative opposition to reorganization has previously beenidentified as the key factor in the high failure rate of this type of reform initiative

It is important to note, however, that these 21 executive branch reorganizationinitiatives were "successful" because they gained legislative approval

Support from legislative leaders and a majority of legislators is required

to gam passage of the statutory changes needed to proceed with the tion Thus, a low to moderate level of conflict seems, almost by definition, to be animportant factor in the "success" scenario Indeed, in many of these successfulexecutive branch reorganizations, legislators—and particularly legislative lead-ers—played a role in the reorganization study commission or study and in thedevelopment of the reorganization plan

reorganiza-Data on the results of the reorganization initiatives show that a substantialdegree of consolidation took place in all states Indeed, in some states the numbers

of departments and agencies before reorganization exceeded 150, while the number of departments (and agencies) after reorganization was generally 30 or fewer

In the seven states where the cabinet model was the structural objective, the

1 Data presented on these 21 reorganization initiatives in the following two pages are taken trom this source Specifically the data are displayed in the Appendix of the 1987 publication