American State Executive Studies: a Suggested New Departure

• DOI: 10.1177/106591296401700412
• Published date: 01 December 1964
• Date: 01 December 1964
• Subject Matter: Articles

777

AMERICAN

STATE

EXECUTIVE

STUDIES:

A

SUGGESTED

NEW

DEPARTURE

ROBERT

H.

SIMMONS

California

State

College

at

Los

Angeles

VARIETY

of

approaches

to

the

investigation

of

American

state

government

has

developed

over

the

years.

Generally,

those

studies

which

deal

with

the

jL

state

executive

system

or

specific

aspects

of

it

may

be

classified

according

to

their

particular

approach.

Some

center

attention

primarily

on

the

historical

develop-

ment

of

state

executives.

Others

concentrate

on

analyzing

the

legal

basis

of

adminis-

trative

agencies

and

describe

the

legal

arrangement

of

power

and

authority

among

the

formal

parts

of

the

executive.

Still

another

approach

deals

with

formal

institu-

tional

organization,

often

on

a

comparative

basis.

Finally,

there

are

those

efforts

which

utilize

legal

and

institutional

description

for

the

purpose

of

applying

a

priori

principles

of

administrative

organization

to

effect

changes

in

the

formal

arrange-

ment

of

the

executive

structure.

This

type

of

study

has

been

identified

as

reorganiza-

tion

analysis.’

Holcombe,

Mathews,

Buck

and

others,

early

in

the

1920’s,

encouraged

the

analysis

of

state

executives

from

the

latter

three

interrelated

descriptive

and

analyti-

cal

viewpoints.2

Tremendous

activity

developed

from

these

efforts

which

penetrated

into

most

state

governments

in

varying

degree.3

A

brief

perusal

of

these

various

ap-

proaches

is

necessary

in

order

to

determine

their

usefulness

and

their

limitations

in

contributing

to

any

studies

of

state

executive

systems

which

might

be

undertaken

today.

Comparatively

little

attention

has

been

devoted

to

the

historical

development

of

the

American

state

executive

systems.

In

1908

John

H.

Finley

and

John

F.

San-

derson

made

a

study

of

The

American

Executive

and

Executive

Methods.

Eight

years

later

M.

C.

Alexander’s

article,

&dquo;The

Development

of

the

Power

of

the

State

Executive,&dquo;

was

published

in

the

Smith

College

Studies

in

History.

Other

references

can

be

found

in

general

histories

of

particular

periods.4

The

colonial

executive

sys-

tems

were

examined

by

Percy

Kaye,

while

a

more

recent

brief

historical

study

is

Wil-

1

Leslie

Lipson,

The

American

Governor;

from

Figurehead

to

Leader

(Chicago:

University

of

Chicago

Press,

1939),

pp.

64-126;

Austin

F.

MacDonald,

American

State

Government

and

Administration

(5th

ed.;

New

York:

Crowell,

1955),

pp.

347-58;

J.

C.

Phillips,

State

and

Local

Government

in

America

(New

York:

American

Book

Co.,

1954),

pp.

202-22.

2

Arthur

N.

Holcombe,

State

Government

in

the

United

States

(New

York:

Macmillan,

1926),

chaps.

X,

XI,

XVI;

J.

M.

Mathews,

Principles

of

American

State

Administration

(New

York:

Appleton,

1920

and

1926) ;

see

also

J.

M.

Mathews,

American

State

Government

(rev.

ed.;

New

York:

Appleton-Century,

1934),

pp.

302-20;

A.

E.

Buck,

Administrative

Consolidation

in

State

Government

(3rd

ed. ;

New

York:

National

Municipal

League,

1924),

passim.

3

W.

Brooke

Graves,

American

State

Government

(4th

ed.;

Boston:

Heath,

1953),

pp.

1-10,

362-94.

The

entire

issue

of

State

Government,

June

1950,

is

devoted

to

"The

Govern-

ment

of

Our

States

at

Mid-Century,"

and

is

most

useful

on

this

topic.

4

For

example:

Allen

Nevins,

The

American

States

During

and

After

the

Revolution,

1775-

1789

(New

York:

Macmillan,

1924), pp.

206-7.