Kategoria BISAC: Political Science >> American Government - State

One of the most difficult if not least productive exercises undertaken in Mississippi in the last half-century has been the recurring effort to reorganize the executive branch of state government. In reviewing those efforts, Thomas Kynerd attempts to gain insight into the repeated failures.

In 1932, a study of state government described its organization as -chaotic, - but the recommended improvements were -shouted- down. Nearly twenty years later, the governor decided it was time to reorganize state government and asked the legislature to develop a plan. The plan was prepared with much...

In a state assumed to have a constitutionally weak governor, the Speaker of the Texas House wields enormous power, with the ability to almost single-handedly dictate the legislative agenda. The House Will Come to Order charts the evolution of the Speaker's role from a relatively obscure office to one of the most powerful in the state. This fascinating account, drawn from the Briscoe Center's oral history project on the former Speakers, is the story of transition, modernization, and power struggles.

Weaving a compelling story of scandal, service, and opportunity, Patrick Cox and Michael...

Out and Running is the first systematic analysis of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) political representation that explores the dynamics of state legislative campaigns and the influence of lesbian and gay legislators in the state policymaking process. By examining state legislative elections from 1992 to 2006 and state policymaking from 1992 to 2009, Donald Haider-Markel suggests that the LGBT community can overcome hurdles and win elections; and, once in office, these officials can play a critical role in the policy representation of the community.

However, he...

Globalization has challenged taken-for-granted relationships of rule at all levels. This unsettling of legitimacy raises some serious questions. Under what conditions do individuals and communities accept globalized decision making as legitimate? And what political practices do individuals and collectivities under globalization use to exercise autonomy?

To answer these questions, the contributors to Unsettled Legitimacy explore the disruptions and reconfigurations of political authority that accompany globalization. Arguing that we live in an era in which political legitimacy...