State Executives in United States

State Executives

Margaret R. Ferguson, in the chapter “State Executives” of the Oxford Handbook of State and Local Government, offers some insight and critically assesses the situation and current state of scholarship on the topic. The following is a summary:Despite their central role as primary leaders in the states, scholarship on governors and other executive officials lags behind research on other institutions, most notably the legislature. There is an essential paradox in the study of governors. Some scholars attribute lofty titles to governors such as “chief legislator” but few researchers have systematically studied the governors’ actual leadership in policymaking. This article briefly reviews the research on governors and other state executives; scholarship on elections and public opinion and the various important roles of governors. The author identifies where knowledge is lacking and concludes with some thoughts about how best to move scholarship on state executives forward.

Further Reading

• “State Executives”, The Oxford Handbook of American Politics