Gubernatorial Behavior in State-Federal Relations

• Date: 01 June 1987
• Published date: 01 June 1987
• DOI: 10.1177/106591298704000207
• Author: Dennis O. Grady
• Subject Matter: Articles

GUBERNATORIAL

BEHAVIOR

IN

STATE-FEDERAL

RELATIONS

DENNIS

O.

GRADY

University

of

Northern

Iowa

MA,JOR

theme

in

the

current

state

politics

literature

is

the

reemer-

gence

of

the

institution

of

the

governorship

during

recent

decades

~

JL

as

a

vibrant,

important,

and

powerful

force

both

within

states

and

in

the

national

political

arena.

Since

the

1960s

state

constitutional

revi-

sions

have

placed

greater

formal

powers

at

the

governors’

disposal

(Beyle

1983),

younger

and

better

educated

individuals

have

been

attracted

to

the

Office

(Sabato

1983),

and

incumbents

have

been

increasingly

successful

in

winning

reelection

(Tompkins

1984).

Paralleling

the

transformation

of

the

governorship,

there

has

also

been

a

profound

transformation

in

the

rela-

tionship

between

states

and

the

federal

government.

With

the

virtual

ex-

plosion

of

grant-in-aid

activity

spawned

by

the

new

Frontier

and

Great

Society

programs,

the

development

of

new

fiscal

devices

such

as

General

Revenue

Sharing

and

block

grants

and

the

dramatic

growth

and

institu-

tionalization

of

state

interest

group

activity

in

Washington,

D.C.,

a

new

partnership

evolved

between

decision-makers

at

the

national

and

state

levels

(Hale

and

Palley

1981).

One

aspect

of

this

new

partnership

was

the

emer-

gence

of

a

new

role

assumed

by

state

governors -

that

of

&dquo;federal

sys-

tems’

officer&dquo;

(Williams

1972:

1-6).

Other

than

the

assumption

of

a

new

title,

we

have

little

understanding

about

how

these

fundamental

changes

in

our

federal

system

influenced

the

role

and

behavior

of

the

states’

chief

political

leader.

Previous

research

indicates

that

governors

considered

state-federal

re-

lations

an

integral

component

of

their

administrative

responsibility;

that

governors

serving

during

this

period

devoted

considerable

time

to

state-

federal

concerns;

and,

there

was

considerable

variation

among

governors

in

terms

of

the

effort

they

devoted

to

and

the

importance

they

placed

on

this

responsibility

(Glendenning

and

Reeves

1977;

Beyle

and

Muchmore

1983;

Grady

1984).

Absent

is

any

research

exploring

why

some

governors

were

more

involved

than

others

or,

phrased

in

behavioral

terms,

what

fea-

tures

in

the

governors’

environments

compelled

or

constrained

their

ac-

tivity

in

the

federal

system

officer

role.

The

purpose

of

this

article

is

to

examine

this

question

by

offering

a

theory

of

gubernatorial

behavior

in

state-

federal

relations,

operationalizing

the

theory

and

assessing

whether

or

not

the

relevant

environmental

forces

derived

from

the

theory

are

associated

with

the

governors’

efforts

in

state-federal

relations

as

hypothesized.

The

underlying

argument

is

that

under

certain

conditions

governors

may

use

Received:

August

21,

1985

1st

Revision

Received:

February

4,

1986

2nd

Revision

Received:

May

20,

1986

Accepted

for

Publication:

May

21,

1986