State and Local Politics: Who Governs?

Power Point Slides

Since there are more than 87,500 distinct units of state and local government, it is hard to make generalizations about them. All states share somewhat similar formal institutions—separation of powers, three branches, judicial review, bicameral legislatures (with one exception, Nebraska)—but there are infinite variations on the relative strength of those formal institutions and their style of politics. Socioeconomic and cultural factors are especially important in shaping the power, number, and kinds of interest groups, the degree of party competition, and the presence of pluralistic or elitist power structures. And obviously, the socioeconomic and cultural differences between, for example, Mississippiand Minnesota, Californiaand the Carolinas, are numerous and profound.

This chapter concentrates on power: who has it and how it is obtained. The pluralist‑elitist debate is only part of the chapter. Most is devoted to interest groups, public participation, and the stakes involved.

Again, there is great variation from state to state and community to community. Generally, however, there is public apathy toward state and local government. The stakes are high and the impact on daily life is massive, but most people find state and local politics boring. Political parties tend to be organizationally weak, and competition exists only in about half the states. Most candidates run for office on their own, with little party support or contributions to their campaigns. 

This chapter introduces the state and local chapters to follow. It is important for students to understand the stakes involved at the state and local level and the ways that state and local politics differ from national politics.

I. LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Discuss what state and local government do and their number.

2. Examine how patterns of power in state and local government are analyzed.

3. Compare techniques used to study local power structures and the impact of methodology on findings.

4. Explain the presence and effects of interest group concentration on state and local government.

5. Describe the variety of interest groups present in state government.

6. Describe the role of lobbyists in the political and policy-making process.

7. Identify groups that are active in local government.

8. Describe the nature of local newspaper coverage of local government.

9. Debate the reasons for grass-roots apathy about government and politics.

10. Discuss the need for, and common characteristics of innovators and problem solvers at the state and local level.

11. Examine the central issues facing state and local government over the next decade.