Changing Gubernatorial Power: the Measure Vs. Reality

• Author: Nelson C. Dometrius
• Published date: 01 June 1987
• Date: 01 June 1987
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591298704000208
• Subject Matter: Articles

CHANGING

GUBERNATORIAL

POWER:

THE

MEASURE

VS.

REALITY

NELSON

C.

DOMETRIUS

Texas

Tech

University

VER

the

years,

social

scientists

have

become

very

adept

at

quan-

t

tifying

and

measuring

the

attributes

of

our

subject

matter.

We

recognize

that

human

institutions

and

behavior

are

changeable,

not

immutable.

Nevertheless,

we

sometimes

forget

that

as

the

objects

we

study

change,

the

measurements

we

use

for

our

studies

must

also

change.

This

paper

examines

one

case

where

our

measures

have

not

kept

pace

with

our

subject

-

Schlesinger’s

index

of

gubernatorial

power.

Schlesinger

introduced

his

well-known &dquo;Index

of the

Formal

Powers

of

the

Governors&dquo;

two

decades

ago

(Schlesinger

1965).

The

index,

plus

its

separate

appointment,

budget,

tenure

and

veto

power

components,

has

appeared

repeatedly

in

studies

of

state

politics

and

the

governorship.

It

has

shown

amazing

resilience

-

use

of

the

index

has

continued

despite

qualms

about

its

construction

(Dometrius

1979),

proposed

additions

(Beyle

1983),

and

Schlesinger’s

own

warning

not

to

equate

formal

power

with

actual

in-

fluence

(Schlesinger

1965).

The

index,

however,

has

become

a

victim

of

its

own

subject.

The

last

quarter

century

has

seen

widespread

increases

in

the

formal

powers

of

gover-

nors

(Sabato

1978;

Beyle

1983;

Mueller

1985).

Changes

in

the

states

have

reduced

the

validity

of

the

appointment

power

component

and

have

weakened

the

ability

of

the

summary

index

to

identify

differences

between

governors.

Consequently,

it

is

problematic

to

include

the

index,

or

any

of

its

components,

in

analyses

of the

contemporary

governorship.

The

following

section

reviews

the

general

problems

involved

in

apply-

ing

Schlesinger’s

index

to

the

1980s.

Additionally,

these

problems

will

be

illustrated

through

a

review

of Mueller’s

recent

study

(1985)

of

gubernatorial

power.

As

both

the

most

recent

work

in

the

field,

and

a

longitudinal

anal-

ysis,

Mueller’s

work

crystallizes

many

of

the

index’s

temporal

problems.

Mueller

sought

to

uncover

the

determinants

of

formal

power

by

ex-

amining

changes

in

Schlesinger’s

formal

power

index

between

1960

and

1982.

He

concluded

that

innovative

states

and

wealthy

states

enhanced

the

power

of

their

governors

substantially

during

this

22-year

period;

however,

a

professional

legislature

in

the

state

hindered

increases

in

formal

guber-

natorial

power.

Unfortunately,

Mueller’s

conclusions

stem

as

much

from

weaknesses

in

Schlesinger’s

index

as

from

any

real

relationships.

Received:

January

29,

1986

Revision

Received:

May

21,

1986

Accepted

for

Publication:

May

22,

1986

NOTE:

My

deepest

thanks

to

Gerry

Riposa

and

Sue

Tolleson-Rinehart

for

their

extensive

comments

on

earlier

versions

of

this

paper.