Chapter 1 State and Local Governments New Directions PDF

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Chapter 1 State and Local Governments New Directions...

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Chapter 1: State and Local Governments: New Directions Tuesday, August 29, 2017 8:43 PM

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Introduction  Fiscal health, job creation, and educational improvement were topics in countless gubernatorial addresses  Leaders needed to be less focused on winning or losing, on partnerships and political games and more focused on the people who they serve and the generation that will follow B. Studying State and Local Governments in the Twenty-First Century  State and local politics often don’t get a lot of attention  Issues that affect everyone are often the day-to-day problems state and local governments have to face  From Sewers to Science: The Functions of State and Local Governments  State and local governments exist because they need to make policy for and provide services to the public  An efficient government is one that maximizes the output from a given input  Evidence based practices - making decisions based on the best research findings available  Governments are willing to try something new  States take ideas from each other that work in a particular state and they are constantly trying to improve and be more effective  Our Approach  State and local governments have a capacity to play - the ability of government to respond effectively to change, make decisions efficiently and responsibly and manage conflict  A state with a more capacity work better  The fiscal resources of a jurisdiction and the quality of leadership make a difference in how these states preform - the territorial range of government authority (can be used as a synonym for "city" or "town"  The capacity of a state is focused on the administrative dimensions of government performance, evaluating things like: financial management, information technology, human resources, strategic planning  People want to have trustworthy, ethical and financially responsible leaders in their governments  Federalism - a system of government in which powers are divided between central government and regional governments  Federal actions (when the central government steps in) are sometimes helpful but other time are unwanted b the regional governments  Many times national, state and local governments must work together because they sometimes fall into overlapping territory  But each level of government tends to see problems from its own perspective and design solutions to fit their needs B. The Capacity of States and Localities  Fifty years ago state and local governments didn't do much and public policy tended to reflect the interests of the elite

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Local and state governments have since then proven that they can create innovative initiatives and are now laboratories for policy experimentation  State and local governments started to become more proactive and crafted new directions for the jurisdiction to head into How States and Localities Increased Their Capacity  In the 1970s two party competition gave state's voters more choice  State governments modernized their constitutions - more than threequarters of the states have ratified new constitutions or amended existing ones  Changes in constitutions made it possible for states to have a more diverse and better demographically representation of the public  And other changes in procedures have helped make state legislatures more professional and effective Increased Capacity and Improved Performance - Improved Revenue Systems  Economic downturns and limits on taxing and spending have caused states to implement new revenue-raising strategies  Examples of diversification strategies include: state rainy day funds, legalized gambling, and extensions of the sales tax to services  Examples of tax equity include: exemptions of food and medicine from consumer sales taxes and the enactment of property-tax breaks  States are always adjusting their revenue-raising schemes  Efforts to increase state revenues have been created - like getting a special license plate or selling merchandise with the popular street signs or landmarks Increased Capacity and Improved Performance - Expanding the Scope of State Operations  State governments are always adding new functions to their policies and taking on new roles  Example: State governments were the first to use Amber Alert to notify people about abducted children  States continue to expand their scope of operations wanting to learn more and do more research and embracing their role as policy innovators - this is happening in local governments as well Increased Capacity and Improved Performance - Faster Diffusion of Innovations  Successful solutions are spreading from one jurisdiction to another because states are looking to their neighbors for ideas  The diffusion of new ideas depends in large part on their fit and effectiveness  Regional consultation and emulation are logical: similar problems often bests jurisdictions in the same region  States borrow ideas from peer states (Peer states - states that are like them in important ways such as ideological learning or economic base)  States and localities are increasing inclusive Increased Capacity and Improved Performance - Interjurisdictional Cooperation  States are choosing to confront and resolve their immediate problems jointly  There are many interstate agreements to help each other in a time of crisis, or the simplification of sales or use taxes - many states see the benefit with working with each other  Many states also come together for consumer protection litigation sharing information and design tactics

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Increased jurisdiction cooperation fosters a healthy climate for joint problem solving  When state and local governments solve their own problems they protect their power and authority within the federal system Increased Capacity and Improved Performance - Increased National State Conflict  National and state conflict seem to rise - especially costly requirements that federal legislation imposes ono states and localities  Governors believe that unfunded mandates devastate budgets and inhibit flexibility and innovation for new programs and deprive states of the responsibility to set priorities  National-state conflicts are resolved by the federal courts Challenges Facing State and Local Governments  An average of 60% of residents in the state said that they have a "great deal" or "fair amount" of trust in their state government when it comes to solving problems  this tends to be higher in less populated states and states located in the upper plains region Challenges Facing State and Local Governments - Fiscal Stress  State and local governments are vulnerable to cyclical peaks and troughs  When it with bad times governments have to come up with ways to create money which often includes cutting down and saving money and reducing cost in the most painless way possible and if necessary increase fees  Governments had to face a New Normal - an environment characterized by stagnant revenues and budget cuts, leading to changes in the provision of public services Challenges Facing State and Local Governments - Increased Interjurisdictional Conflict  Tension is inherit in a federal system because each jurisdiction has their own way of doing things  Interjurisdictional conflict is particularly common in two policy areas natural resources and economic development  States rich in natural resources want to use resources in a manner that will yield the greatest return  Do states have the right to control a resource that occurs naturally and is highly desired by other states?  Resource poor states argue that resources are natural and should be shared among states  Every jurisdiction wants a healthy economy and conflict happens when states get involved in bidding war - "when an enterprise is so highly valued that actions taken by one state are matched and exceeded by another"  States change the way they do things in order to attract manufacturers (they change land prices to be below cost, they add tax concessions and they subsidize job training)  One big dispute between the state and local governments are the US military bases that are sometimes closed or consolidated --> states mount public relation efforts to protect local bases and to grab jobs that will be lost in other states Challenges Facing State and Local Governments - Political Corruption  "If corruption becomes commonplace, it undermines governmental capacity and destroys public trust"

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Government scandals have been linked to a slowdown in economic growth

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States and localities are doing everything they can to create a more transparent government - a characteristic of a government that is open and understandable, one in which officials are accountable to the public  Some speculate that capital cities isolated from major population centers tend to breed more corruption  The amount of corruption is relatively low given the low number of public officials serving in the state and local governments B. The People Designers and Consumers of the Government  People are the ultimate focus of the roles in the political system and those vary tremendously  Ethnic-Racial Composition  most Americans are not indigenous Native American dissent, instead they come from ancestors who made the journey to America because of physical coercion (slaves)  The US is a nation of immigrants and have a very rush ethnic culture  Approximately 13% of the nation's population was born in another country  There is big divide about illegal immigration  one group argues that people who are in the United States illegally receive public benefits, take scarce jobs, and pay little in taxes  They want to clamp down on illegal immigration by requiring verification of workers' legal status and restricting the issuance of drivers' licenses to US citizens and legal immigrants  The other group contends that undocumented workers actually contribute more in taxes than they consume in public services and contribute to economic growth  They support the legislation "path to citizenship" and the "DREAM act"  Five states however prohibit unauthorized immigrant students from receiving in-state tuition at state colleges (20 states offer benefits for them)  "Researchers have found that a state's racial and ethnic diversity goes a long way in explaining its politics and policies  Population Growth and Migration  High rates of growth occurred in the western states a total of 3.1% in the nation as a whole  Florida replaced New York as the nation's third most populous state  Higher rates of growth were more prevalent in cities in the Sunbelt region compared to those in the Frostbelt - (sunbelt) an unofficial region of the United States generally consisting of the South and the West; (frostbelt) an unofficial region of the United States generally comprising the Northeast and the Midwest  On average 33% of a state's residents want to move to another state  Population changes carry economic and political consequences for the state and local governments "power and influence follow the population"  Projections suggest that electoral influence of Sunbelt states will increase in the future  "As a central city's population size is eclipsed by its suburban population, a loss in the city's political clout typically occurs"  Political Culture

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Political Culture - the attitude, values, and beliefs that people hold toward government  It's the way people think about their government and how the political system operates  The US is made up of three major political cultures  Individualistic political culture: politics is a kind of open marketplace in which people participate because of essentially private motivations  Moralistic political culture: politics is an effort to establish a good and just society and citizens are expected to be active in public affairs  Traditionalistic political culture: politics functions to maintain the existing order and political participation is confined to social elites  These differences in thought of how a government should act leads to different behaviors  The process of cultural erosion and synthesis has produced hybrid political cultures  Very few states are dominated by a single subculture  States do what they do because of socioeconomic characteristics and political structural factors  But it's still a gray area and a state's political culture is not the sole reason why certain decisions are made, it could be because there are more females in the legislature, or because states are nontraditional political cultures, or states that have a more urbanized nonwhite population  Culture Wars  Culture wars - political conflicts that emerge from deeply held moral values  Example: When San Francisco mayor ordered for there to be no reference of gender on the marriage license, conservative groups were outraged and promised legal action --> same-sex marriage has been the most volatile culture war in the past decade  Topics of culture wars: gay rights, abortion, pornography, and prayer in school  Culture wars have several distinct features:  Values are highly salient to people  Brings together people from different racial or ethnic groups  The ensuring political activism often takes unconventional forms (aka demonstrations) B. Linking Capacity to Results  On a regular basis state and local governments tackle some of the most pressing problems in America today  Diversity, competitiveness, and resiliency both facilitate and complicate their tasks  State and local governments are producing good results...